Splintered Shadows
by Vorahk295
Summary: In a Mobius where King Max has outlawed having special powers, Sonic and Tails find themselves heading to the capital, for reasons they cannot fully explain. Meanwhile, the king's sheltered daughter, Sally, tries to make her escape.
1. Chapter 1

Mobotropolis - a grand name for a grand city, a labyrinth, a sprawling metropolis of rat-runs and hideaways, towering blocks of concrete and paintwork all standing silently in apparent sentinel to the great palace at the centre. The citizens, many a-race of Mobian peoples, are in their homes, the day's work over and a return to this brief sanctuary that in some small way belonged to them. Past their windows trod the stragglers, that scant handful of those for whom either work was a burden or some more macabre task was theirs to bear. Save them, the day was over for the dwellers of the day, and now those of the night moved from their holes into the night light.  
The thieves, the bats, the rats, the other more exotic species that thrived in such conditions...hardly now. Their jobs were nigh impossible these days, homes safely secured and mechanised patrols casting searchlights through the streets on the king's work. Nevertheless, work had to be done, money had to be either made or taken, and shapes moved through the darkness, those you would expect...and those you wouldn't.

It was in a small room within one of the myriad towers of the gargantuan palace that one such shape was preparing to make their move. The figure was a young woman, twenty-two years of age, her species a mix of a squirrel and chipmunk. Tall for a Mobian, around five feet, she was covered in two separate tones of brown fur, with soft red hair falling from her head and cresting her shoulders. She was clad in a close-fitting blue body glove, with a white bar around her slender waist, and black boots and gloves protecting her extremities. Sharp, royal blue eyes scanned over her form in a mirror, before she looked over her shoulder at the other figure sharing the room.  
"What do you think, Nicole?"

The other, Nicole, shifted uncomfortably. "Aesthetically pleasing, princess, practical, yes, but is it necessary to use such vibrant colours? This is an escape, not a fair."  
Sally Acorn spun on one heel to properly face Nicole, taking her in at a glance. Lynx…slightly shorter than her own self, a shade of pale brown for the most part, her extremities – namely ears, hands and feet – sunk dramatically into jet black, so much so they were near-invisible in the gloom. Her trademark thistle-purple dress was not suited to an escape…but she was not coming. As always, she would remain behind, an attempt to cover for the squirrel princess' disappearance.  
Sally bristled slightly with her motion. Why did it matter what colours she used? If she was seen, she would be caught anyway.

"I don't have anything else, Nicole. You know that very well." Sally pointed out, as she headed for the door, scooping up an unassuming backpack along the way. "And even if you tried to wear something more appropriate and hand it over to me, Father's men would send you home for being 'improperly dressed', or something like that. Now, did you check the hidden cameras that we set up? Is it all clear?"

The plan was simple. Make sure the coast was clear, and make a bolt for the outer wall, then use a rope tied to a parapet to shimmy down to the ground, then pursue. The beauty of the idea was that they had worked out all of the possible routes to the outer wall, and had chosen the one that was the most abstract. Another benefit of this route was that, if timed correctly, such as during, say, the changing of the guard, no guard patrols would be near it. Provided that the plan was kept secret, there was no way it could be halted, and Sally knew that her best friend and adoptive sister of nineteen years wouldn't tell anyone, no matter the situation.

"It's clear, I think." The lynx spared a glance at a screen on her wrist, displaying each of the screens in a miniature cube. "You don't have long – better get moving now." Her hand dropped back to rest by her side, her eyes dropping as if uncertain of something.  
"Is there something you're not telling me?" queried Sally. "I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other."  
"It's- I'm-" Nicole stuttered, still unsure how to begin. "I'm worried, more than ever. Your father has been incredibly lenient so far, and I'm not sure how long his patience is going to last."  
"I'm not going to just lie down for him. I don't plan to stop trying, ever." The princess shook her head sadly, took one last look round the room, then ducked into the ventilation shaft, which, if she had memorized the route correctly, should take her to the interior wall. A very plain and desperate plan, but a plan nonetheless.

Sally crawled through the vent, but didn't make it very far before she had to stop. In front of her was a heavy, iron grate, bolted down to every surface of the shaft by a set of rivets. The grates had, as far as she could remember, been installed recently. As Nicole had said, Sally's father was being extraordinarily lenient for a man famed for his unrelenting harshness, and was more focused on preventing Sally from getting away than punishing her for trying. She backed up, unable to progress, until she found another grate, and dropped into the corridor.  
As expected, it was empty, and she quickly padded into one of the passageways she had noted down in her original plan. Peering round the corner, she spied a pair of guards near a door.

Both were tall, male Mobians, one of them a muscular, orange furred ox, and the other white tiger. Both were wearing heavy, archaic-looking armour, and carrying spears. The crest of the Acorn Kingdom was imprinted the left pectoral of each breastplate, over the heart, and they had a gold sash running diagonally from the right shoulder. They were stood at attention, silent and unmoving, staring at the wall opposite them.

_Shit._These were royal guards, and two of the best. Strong, agile, and well-trained, it was likely that her father himself was nearby if these two were around. While Sally would have no trouble outrunning them, they would not only sound the alarm, but she had learned the hard way that those spears could fire a jolt of electricity powerful enough to send her into the brink of unconsciousness.

Sally reached into her backpack, and pulled out a dart gun. She checked the clip, and levelled it at the tiger. With a barely audible click, the dart shot out and embedded itself in the feline's neck, and he suddenly began to stumble. His comrade turned to check on him, and Sally fired again, striking the ox as well. Both guards collapsed, and Sally took off, faster than before. She was now on an even tighter time limit. She had until her father or whatever official warranted the protection of the two guards left that room, and if she wasn't out by then, then it was unlikely that she would ever get out.

Hallways and corridors flashed by in her flight, feeling strangely alien as with every escape she plotted, columns and carpets, tapestries and portraits…another dart used, another guard down. She wouldn't permit herself to use anything more likely to kill – this game was with her father; the guards were collateral and merely following orders to avoid the inevitable beheading that would follow were they to defy their king. Keep moving.

Her mind briefly thought back to Nicole, the risks she took every time, often only saved by Sally's insistence and her father's peculiar benediction. Now that was something – that was too strange – but a rumination for another day. Concentration on the escape was imperative- something landed heavily on her shoulder, a vice-like grip that could no longer be mistaken. No point screaming, no point trying to run. No doubt several stun-weapons were pointed at her from the darkness, through which she could not reliably see.  
"Let go of me." Her voice dipped to a chilly tone.  
"Now, now, dear, you know I can't do that, for your own safety."  
"I don't need you to protect me, dad." The last word was spoken with such a venom that the hand flinched, even briefly, minute, impossible to detect but for one who had known him all their life.

The lights came up – she was right. A dozen guards, armed with a variety of stun-guns and null rods, all poised and ready to fire if it were to prove necessary. Now it was clear escape was quite clearly impossible this day, Sally shrugged the hand off her shoulder and spun to face her father.  
King Maximilian Acorn the fourth was again, a tall Mobian by normal standards, just above five feet and thus only a couple of inches above Nicole, Sally could barely control her hatred for him. He was unarmoured, though the scores of medals pinned to every available surface of his ceremonial robes could have served as such, and his face held the same fire he had held in his youth. A well-kept beard and moustache smoothed the roughened and lined features he held, and still Sally could not help but loathe him.

"Come now, dear daughter. You must really stop these childish games. I appreciate that you do not kill the guards – some foolish notion of kindness I'm sure, but it would not matter if you used a proper weapon. The outside world is dangerous for you, my dear, and I do not try to prevent you from escaping. I only want to stop the pain of this world making its way to you." He spoke, placating, but his severe baritone voice ruined the effect to some degree. Even now Sally wanted to lash out, to fight back in some, even futile, way, but she could not deny that she was scared of her own father. Scared of what he might do were she one day to actively defy him.

"Just take me back to my quarters. This rigmarole you always blather on about has already grown tired and old, _father, _much like yourself."

Elsewhere, in a far grimier corner of the city, another young Mobian sat in her room, hunched over a computer. The room was Spartan, little more than a bed and a desk, though the girl had taken time to pin up a propaganda poster of the king, which had been lovingly decorated with many throwing knives in the image's head and chest area.

The girl was a lot shorter, and not just because of her younger age, only four feet, and she looked slim and slightly underfed. Much of her visage was kept in shadow by the thick bangs of reddish-brown hair that hung down over her forehead, but despite this, her icy blue eyes shone brightly as she glared at the monitor in front of her.

Her exposed hands, covered in red fur, darted over the keyboard in front of her, as her rate of breathing started to rise. The adrenalin rush always came when she pulled this little trick, even though she'd been doing it for years and had never once been detected. This time, though, she had good reason. Hacking into the server on which the entire city was run was one thing. Hacking into the castle's systems themselves was a whole different story. Her hands danced across the holo-keyboard, complicated lines of text and software lining up on the screen.

A progress bar popped onto the ambient blue of the screen, and started to fill up, indicating that she was close to getting into the second stage of the task.

Things were going smoothly thus far – once again the bland hunter programs that roamed the system's outer reaches had missed her on the way in, and the inner functions had not yet detected any attack. Her home was in the old area of Mobotropolis, and built out of bricks and mortar, and not scores of nanites like the rest of the city, and thus, even the city AI could not hear her. She kicked her chair away from the wall, careful to avoid running over her long, bushy tail as she did so. She pivoted on the seat, pulled another knife from her belt, and threw it at the poster. It landed in the image's eye.

The computer bleeped, and she rolled over to it again, hoping to see the authentication message. Instead, there was a text box helpfully informing her that 'T2' was online. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and closed the box. She wasn't expecting him to be on so soon, and she would have to explain later, but she couldn't stop now. It was impolite and unprofessional.

* * *

"Nicole, you think you can open this terminal?" Sally jabbed a thumb at the blue, humming security pad in her room. Since her return her mood had soured, as it always did after each failed attempt. Nicole was doing her best to stay quiet and do as asked as quietly and unobtrusively as she could.  
"Sure." Replied Nicole, risking a quick smile to try and lighten the mood. She crossed the few feet of carpeted floor and lowered herself into the seat, her fingers began to move, slowly, a little uncertain, but with ever-increasing confidence. It took her ten minutes, but in the end she had managed to open a secure route through the security. As she stood up and allowed the princess to take her place, backing away a few steps, Sally said something that surprised her.  
"Nicole, do you reckon you could, you know, step outside? I want to be alone for a bit."

Nicole stepped back, considering the request. She couldn't exactly say no, but leaving Sally on her own wasn't a very inviting prospect either. In the end, she could only agree.  
"Alright. Give me a shout when you want me back in?"  
"Yea." Sally nodded and turned away, waiting until the door shut before starting to work. It wasn't that she didn't trust Nicole, just…she wanted to try something out alone this time. It was her plan to peruse the data network, see if someone was out there who might help her, or if she could do something to-  
-[Hello? How did you get onto this channel?]-  
Sally blinked. Had the computer just talked back? She typed her own response in the keyboard.  
-[What do you mean?]- A few seconds, and the reply came back.  
-[This channel is sealed from the outside. No other software should be able to get inside.]-  
The squirrel-princess sighed. It was just one of the roving data programs, apparently an artificial intelligence in the city AI. At least it was someone different to talk to.

-[Sorry. I didn't know.]-  
-[Never mind. I guess it won't hurt. Who are you?]-  
-[Sally Acorn]-  
-[No shitting? How did you even get onto the DataStream? I heard the king kept his little girl hidden from the world]-  
-[I'm not exactly allowed on here]- Sally paused. Was this really something she should be discussing with someone? They couldn't be a hunter program, or any AI – they were too vulgar for it. It couldn't hurt to bounce old ideas off someone, just as long as she didn't reveal any new ideas. -[Father doesn't know. I've been trying to get out…just to see the world a bit, but I never get further than the inner wall]-  
-[You've probably got Nicole tracking you]-

Sally started at the accusation. How dare this anonymous interloper make such a claim? Nicole was her friend; she wouldn't betray her!

-[Why should I believe that? Nicole has helped me plan all of my escapes, and they've all been very good plans]-  
-[That's probably it then, or did you not know that Nicole is the resident city AI? She's loyal to the king. I should know, I've seen the software myself. If she's been helping you each time then it's no doubt you keep getting found out. I'm not exactly one to work this far in, but maybe you should-}- The rest of whatever they were about to say faded into static. Outside, Nicole shuddered as she expunged the foreign software from her system. As the software withdrew, it left a sizeable hole in the network code, and suddenly several vital commands around the city deactivated simultaneously.  
Acting in defence of remaining systems, the instinctive backup kicked in, shutting down all systems temporarily. The result was a citywide blackout, lights, televisions and computers dying suddenly.

As her computer fizzed loudly and spat a stream of data at her before dying along with its fellows, the fox-girl sat back in the seat, sighing heavily. That was close – too close. She shouldn't have allowed herself to become bogged down in that chat with someone who was apparently the princess.

Sloppy, unprofessional – the mistake of an amateur. You didn't get distracted in the system, you got in, did what you wanted, and got out, and she had just broken that rule. Damn. He hand came down heavily on the desk, and she fumbled a curse as a splinter dug into her hand. Again. Well, Nicole was getting smarter every day, but if she could be made to break from the king's law…that conversation had given her an idea. Perhaps the loyalty programs could be damaged, or even reversed…it would create some very funny results. Something to look into.  
Later. For another time.  
{Calling User: T2…}  
"Hey man. Listen, could I ask you something?"

* * *

Sally sat in the darkness of the room, staring at the dead screen. She didn't believe a word of her conversational partner's words, but she was certainly intrigued by them. She stood up, and headed over to her door. Opening it, she looked around. Nicole should have been there, waiting and watching, her face lighting up when she saw her best friend. There was no sign of her. Sally whirled around, ran back into her room, and slammed the door, before she collapsed, staring at the floor. She wasn't thinking logically at this point – she was too frightened, too confused to do so.

Another thought flashed into her head. She could remember meeting Nicole, when she was only three years old. Nicole was a small child too, and she had a mother. The older lynx had been Sally's nurse, and she was definitely real, and Nicole was too. She ate, drank, and the two girls had shared meals sometimes. However, in the past six years, Sally and Nicole had never once eaten the same food, or shared a drink. Nicole always made an excuse when Sally offered. She had believed the excuses, but now... Perhaps that was it – Nicole didn't share food with her anymore because Nicole didn't eat food! Nicole was an artificial intelligence, and the Nicole she knew and talked to was a hologram. She wasn't in the corridor because her projectors had been killed by the power outage, and she really had been telling her father her plans the whole time.

A new plan was starting to form in her mind. She would sow her own seeds of doubt. False trails, open possibilities, bouncing ideas and other bits of information. After a week, she would tell Nicole that she was repeating her attempt from tonight, in the hopes that her father would not expect it, and then use a route on the other side of the castle. A new route.

The red herrings were to make her father doubt Nicole. Despite the horrible, sickly feeling of betrayal in her gut, she still loved Nicole as a sister, and wanted to free her from her father's control. If he felt that Nicole was no longer useful, then perhaps he would be convinced to remove her powers, at which point Sally would rescue her. The hardest part was not telling Nicole the truth. She hated lying to her friend, and this was certain to upset the lynx, but it had to be done.

The lights flickered, and burst back into life. Someone rapped on the door, and Sally opened it, revealing Nicole.  
"Sorry, had to go to the toilet." She said, a little too fast.  
"OK, I'm done with the computer anyway." Sally replied, hoping that she wasn't giving too much away.  
"What were you looking for, anyway?"  
"Oh, you know, stuff. Was wondering how far the security goes, that sort of thing. I've got a new plan in the works. Want to hear it?"


	2. Chapter 2

Around Mobotropolis, the forest was waking up, oblivious to the strife and turmoil within the city and kingdom itself. Nervous birdsong passed from tree to tree like Chinese whispers, all manner of animal answered and calling in reply. Gnarled trunks slept in the morning light, their bulks letting shadows drift into the forest and around every piece of lush scenery.

The air was cold, a chill feeling that crept past fur and clothing, straight to the bone, it slowed the reflex and dulled the mind. No wind served to move it on, and so it hung in the air around Mobotropolis, as if a premonition or dark omen of what was to come. It was the cold that woke him, in that cave, dry but frozen through. Cold blue eyes darted over the surrounding area, then closed, the owner sighing with exasperation.  
"Not again." He groaned, for what he expected was the seventeenth time that month. His companion was, for someone who was well aware of what life was like for Mobians with their 'curse', too reckless.

Of course, that was the entire problem. He didn't know the specifics for why, but for some reason the king had made people like him outlaws. Having abilities the way he did was a death sentence under the rule of Maximillian Acorn. Groaning from the cold and trying to work the ache out of his joints, Miles pushed himself off the floor. At four feet, seven inches, Miles a hair above the normal Mobian height, but was far leaner and stronger than many of his kind. His clean yellow fur was of fennec heritage, a white crest on his chest a common sight in most furred Mobians.

His twin tails, the source of his nickname, flicked instinctively to shake the dust from the cave floor, and he ran one hand through one, curling them around himself for some warmth. Another bloody reason to stay hidden – he was a mutant. Chaos energy in any form was a death sentence, and he was guilty of it in more than the usual way, and there was nothing he could do about it.

A sonic boom sounded in the distance, followed by a whooshing sound, and something shot into the cave, screeching to a halt near to Tails. The figure was a blue-furred Mobian hedgehog, just shorter than Tails, despite being four years his elder. He had sharp emerald eyes, was clad in blue denim jeans, a white t-shirt, an open, short-sleeved red jacket, and red and white trainers, and a cocky grin plastered across his lips. He looked down at his curled-up ally, and raised an eyebrow at his scowl.

"Something the matter, buddy?" He asked. "It's kinda early for you to be like this." Miles returned with a flat glare, uninterested in the banter. He was just awake, he was cold, and they weren't in a great position to begin with.  
"Where were you?" he asked in monotone.  
"Just lookin' at the city." The hedgehog caught the tenseness in his friend's voice, and lowered his voice a little.  
"You didn't go in, did you, not at that speed?" a note of panic and annoyance crept into his voice. "Sonic, I don't like this constant escapade, and you always throwing yourself into things-"  
"Yeah, chill, I know. No-one saw me. I can tell where people are just as well as you can, remember?" Sonic tapped the side of his skull knowingly.

"I also know you have a habit of getting us into trouble." Miles added as he climbed to his feet, pulling on a fur-cuffed black jacket over a plain white T-shirt and dark blue jeans. His mind wandered briefly.  
_"Er…dude, we have to go."  
"Damnit, Sonic! I can't deal with this forever! Every time, every single bloody time we have to leave, and four out of five times it's you getting into trouble!"_  
If either of them made a mistake, even the slightest slip-up, and someone saw them using their powers, they had to leave. The MPD always ruthlessly suppressed anyone who was even suspected to be 'empowered'. It was that or face the king's executioners.  
"What's got you so fixated on this city anyway?" Miles asked, crossing his legs and flipping up the lid of the laptop. If he had to go in, perhaps the local forums and online noticeboards would give some indication of the political and social situation within the city itself.

Sonic's face darkened visibly, his eyes narrowing, as he moved closer to his friend. He spoke in a hushed whisper, as if the cave might rat him out.  
"I'm tired of this, Tails." He admitted. "Tired of all this stigma that we get because of the way we wore born. Tired of running away from all of my problems. So I'm not running. I'm facing them head-on. I'm going to kill the king, and everyone else with that fucking "Acorn" surname. "  
"You're insane."  
"Maybe I am. Thing is, not one of the bastards in that castle can stop me, and none of them will even see me if I move fast enough."  
"You'll only give the ones that agree with him more reason to fear you. And like I've said before, Mom and Dad are handling it from within." Miles didn't like this.  
"No offence, Tails, but they're having too little an effect. Everyone else is too broken-in, too cowed to the king's bias, to actually agree with them."  
"And you just proved why we shouldn't do this." Miles finished. "This isn't a case of cutting the head off the snake. There will be a replacement, probably even worse than any of the Acorns, since popular opinion is that Maximillian is the last one."

"No-one can be worse than that bastard on the throne." Sonic spat, and started as Miles fastened his hands around the hedgehog's arms.  
"Believe me, Sonic." He warned, his voice taking on a chill Sonic hadn't heard before, "it could get worse. It could get so much worse than this – you could have legions of soldiers purging the forest in an attempt to find us, we could have scientists creating chaos-sensors to stop us from hiding. There are so many ways this could be worse, but you don't think any further than beyond the next ten minutes to realise that." He grunted, Miles releasing him with a shove. "You think I'm content with this life? You think I enjoy people hunting me? You think I enjoy being a freak? I'm doing this the way that I know will get results other than us getting killed." He sighed, and it seemed as if the anger had gone out of him. When he continued, he sounded only weary. "I don't want you to get yourself killed either, Sonic. You're the only thing that's never changed in my life – you're always there, we're always around for each other. If I have to face this life, or an even shittier one, I don't want to have to face it alone."

It was a confession Sonic hadn't been expected. Then, of course, he hadn't expected anything like this from Miles. He wasn't exactly an emotional person. A moment later he realised what had just happened – Miles had shown him that if he killed the king, if he ended the Acorn family as he claimed, or got himself killed in the process, the repercussions would go beyond just him. If he succeeded, things would probably get worse. If he failed…the consequences could be catastrophic.  
"Tails…buddy…I'm not as brainy as you. I don't know all the stuff you do – I can't take apart a computer and rebuild it as a super-weapon. I'm just trying to think of a way to stop this."  
"I understand. Believe me when I say that if it was our best option, we'd have offed the fucker years ago. But now, I want you to look at this."

Miles turned the laptop around, and Sonic squatted, looking at the screen. The page looked like a simple forum or message board, but every last post was pro-Chaos Adept.  
"Who made this, and why hasn't the king found it and killed them?"

"It was created by a... close friend, whom the state managed to make an enemy of a long time ago. It was an Adept-related incident, so she came to sympathize with us, figuring that if we were enemies of the state, then we couldn't be that bad. Not the soundest logic, but it doesn't matter. As for why it hasn't been discovered, she's the finest hacker I know, and she used her expertise to encrypt everything so much that the king's spies can't get at it. Then again, you could fool the king's spies with TinyURL, so I'm not sure how impressed I am."  
"Awesome, and from what I heard, you seem to have finally noticed the opposite sex. Female, smart, and you're hesitating on how to describe her? Sounds like somebody's going to get lucky."

"Can it, or I'm giving your cell number to that crazy pink girl from the previous five places we've been. This really isn't the time or place. Anyway, she also talks to my mother occasionally, and kinda acts as a liaison between us, since it's too dangerous for us to talk directly. She's digging up a lot of... interesting information about our beloved monarch, and we may be able to solve this without bloodshed. Then you can give that mad Overlander in the north an ass-kicking if you want your bloodlust sated."

"Whoa, hey, no need to go to drastic measures." Sonic waved his hands hurriedly, said girl coming to mind a little too fast. That was _not_ something he needed right now. He started to pace, trying his best to think of what to do. "So, we still going into the city?" he asked finally.  
"We might as well, now. Maybe I can get something from inside, and it's better than sleeping in caves."  
"Right. Fugitives in style."  
"Not necessarily." Miles shrugged, shutting the laptop and packing it into a bag along with the rest of the sparse belongings they had with them. "We go in, take a look around, see what I can find out, and if I think we can lodge for a bit, we do. If I find it's too dangerous to remain, we sit tight somewhere else. Got it?"  
"Yea, sweet." The hedgehog nodded animatedly, then paused. "Wait, if _you_ think it's safe? What about me?"  
"You and I have very different views on safe, and yours is definitely less refined. I know what's safe, you just have a good idea of what might not kill you."

"So, what? I just sit here and wait?"  
"No, you're coming in with me. I'll need you if we need to get out quickly, but the usual rules apply double. We're on Max's doorstep and a single mistake could have the royal fucking guard coming down on the city looking for us."

"Right. Let's get going, then." Sonic said, picking up his few belongings. "How safe are you expecting this place to be?"  
"About as much as everywhere else. On one hand, we have the royal guard to deal with. On the other, no-one would ever expect a pair of Chaos Adepts to hide in the city itself, would they? The king's forces won't be looking for Chaos Adepts in Mobotropolis. I'm certain of it."

***

"Well, you've got to give it to the king, at least he can make the place look good, unlike our friend up north." Remarked Tails, as they crested a hill overlooking the city.  
"He's compensating for something, I swear it." Sonic quipped, kicking idly at a grown clump of grass.  
"Should be plenty of hideaways, but if it looks fine at first glance we can hire a hotel, maybe find some more personal lodgings."  
"So no more sleeping in caves?"  
"No more sleeping in caves or trekking across wastelands. Come on, I want to be inside by midday."

***

Sonic and Tails soon found themselves on a quiet street, built on a steady incline. Either side was lined with various businesses, though hardly any of them were large chains. Most were fairly local businesses, grocers, florists, that sort of thing. Everything your average schmuck needed.

"Got an idea for lodgings." Sonic said out of the blue.  
"And?"  
"Get your girlfriend to give your Mom a heads-up and ask her to get us a place. Your folks have a lot of money, right?"  
"Indeed they do, but I'm not sure if they have enough to support us."  
"We can pay for our own food and stuff, it's just getting somewhere to live that's the problem."  
"And how do you suppose we do that?"  
"I dunno, get one of the empty places here and do your mechanic stuff from there. That'll work."  
"You might be on to something there. And she's not my girlfriend." Tails looked away, hoping like hell he wasn't blushing.  
"Uh-huh, sure, what's her name?"  
"It's 'Oops-I-gave-your-number-to-Amy', happy now?"  
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a dick?"  
"Yeah, you. On multiple occasions. And hey, if you keep saying it, one day I might give a crap."  
"You remind me way too much of _me_. Now get that computer out and message her."

"Alright, this way then."  
They turned off into one of the side-streets, moving towards an open café. An unassuming and very bland place, a few tables outside under an awning, the majority of customers inside on the cold day. Miles dropped down into one of the many empty seats outside, close to the open doorway in the hopes of drawing some heat from the entrance.  
"Why not go inside?" Sonic asked, dropping down next to him.  
"Too many people. Not safe with what I'm doing. Go and get us coffee, will you? The usual." He flipped the lid on the laptop and clicked one of the buttons on the keyboard, activating the net-finder. A device of his own devising, it effectively gave him internet wherever he was.  
"One espresso and one decaf. Got it." Sonic checked off out loud, then disappeared into the heat of the café.

Miles opened the server and began the process of chatting.  
{Contacting user ValHack…}  
Miles smiled slightly. ValHack stood for Valiant Hacker, as she was known by those on the server. A soft pinging informed him that she was online and now chatting. Swiftly he disabled the microphone and began to blur over the keyboard.  
-[Can't voice-chat here. Not safe.]-  
-[Why? Where are you?]-  
-[Mobotropolis. He wanted to come. I need to ask a favour.]-  
-[You're in-city? Are you sure you're sane?]-  
-[Probably not, but it's as safe as anywhere else ATM. Anyway, I need to ask a favour.]-  
-[Sure. Anything.]-  
-[Could you talk to my mother? I need to see if she can get us a place to stay. Doesn't need to be very nice. Just somewhere we can use to look normal.]-  
-[I'll see what I can do. Maybe we can meet, if you get time.]-  
-[Again, not safe. Catch us together and they'll have at least two adepts and the owner of the pro-adept site. I don't want to put you at risk.]-  
-[I'm always at risk. I'll see what I can do. Later, Tails.]-  
-[Bye.]- Miles closed the tab with a soft sigh, as Sonic stepped out of the cafe, two cups in hand.

"Well?" He asked.  
"She's going to give it a shot. She'll message me back when the verdict comes through."  
"Sweet. She say anything else?"  
"She wanted to meet us in-person."  
"You mean you, right?"  
"I mean us, Mister Rose."  
"Asshole."

Miles allowed Sonic a few moments to fume over his own personal trump card, before he continued.  
"In any case, I declined. It's too dangerous at the moment. When we've got somewhere to stay, I'll consider it, but as I said to her, it would be too easy a target."  
"Fair dos. Now, what's her name? If she's on our side, I want to know."  
"So you can poke more fun at me? Nu-uh." Miles shook his head, drawing a quick grin. "We've got the rest of the day to get our cover blown, so we might as well look around. But first, drinks." He swigged from his own, wincing as the boiling coffee ran down his throat. "We should probably be careful what we talk about round here, too. The slightest discrepancy is enough to convict someone these days." He jabbed a finger discretely as a patrol of uniformed guards tramped by.  
"So, what did that laptop of yours say about the situation before we got here?"  
"Well…" Miles shrugged slowly, might as well show you. Using a laptop isn't forbidden just yet."

Ruffling her hair absent-mindedly, Fiona began to shut down the various applications involved in the . For various political reasons, Rosemary Prower wasn't a presence on Calling All Adepts, so she had more technical means of talking to her.

The vixen tapped a few keys once the last application was closed, and activated the video chat system they had set up for themselves. After a few minutes of waiting, her call got through, and an older, brown-furred vixen, wearing a blue uniform appeared on the other end. Rosemary looked weary.

"Fiona, I trust you have some more information for us?" Rosemary asked.  
"Yup. The channel's secure, so we can do ahead. Turns out that the princess might be alive. She got into the channel I was using before I did, and boy, is this one a heavy-hitter. She's completely cut off from the outside world. Keeps trying to get out, but she's stuck there. Didn't even know that her 'best friend' was actually an AI under the king's control, but that's not why I called."  
"Well, it's certainly interesting. And your real motive?"  
"Tails is in the city, and he and Sonic need accommodation. They want something liveable, but not necessarily nice. He doesn't want to meet anyone yet, since it's too dangerous. He's probably using a false surname, to avoid being associated with you and the feds putting two and two together. He asked me to ask you if you could set something up."

The older woman was immediately tense. "Is he staying in disguise as well?"  
"I didn't get to see him. We used text-chat. He's probably fine though – he has that swirly-thing he can do with his tails. He's looked out for himself for this long, don't worry. You panicking and making a mistake will just make things harder. Chill, I'll watch him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. Now, can you get them something?  
Rosemary narrowed her eyes. "Yes, but it's going to be very difficult. Me buying some nondescript property will draw attention because it's me. I'll transfer the funds to you, and you get them onto that black-market guy…what was his name? Vector? Get him to find them somewhere. You know what Miles is after."

"See, now this is why I don't like politics." Fiona complained, "too much…_politicking._ Wouldn't it be easier just to off the bugger?"  
"Not while there is no immediate heir that can be accepted. If Max caught any wind of a plan, he would probably execute our princess friend, and the death of the Acorn family would mark the beginning of an internal feud. We would have several factions vying for power, and we can't deal with that now. Let's see if my son has anything up his sleeve."  
"He always has his ideas."  
"Not if he gets killed, he won't. Take care of him."  
"I can give you my word on that, Rosemary." Fiona smiled as confidently as she felt she could.


	3. Chapter 3

"When are we going to get something done? Come on, bud, I'm getting bored here."  
"It's been two weeks, Sonic. Calm down." Miles grumbled, pushing another crate of electronics into one of the empty store cupboards. Twelve days ago, when they had acquired the small warehouse, it had been gloomy and run-down. Walkways had been falling apart, the lights hadn't worked and it had been freezing cold at night.  
Since then, Miles had been working on it. Not only had he restored the original warehouse blueprints, but he had elaborated on them. There was now a decent-sized living space, where he had hollowed out containers and welded them together, shifting a few others out of the way and effectively building a house within the steel towers that had inhabited the place originally. He had added various security features, and after doing a few favours and asking a couple of questions, he had managed to secure a few other important details with Fiona's market contacts.

"I know that, but seriously, your Mom's takin' it slow, and I'm kinda worried about something. It's almost like a premonition, you know?"  
"Sonic, premonitions are a huge steaming pile of shit, and you know it. And seriously, if we get found out, we're just gonna blow this place up and run."  
"And if they find this girl that you still won't tell me the name of even though I dropped the subject last week? What happens then? Can't save _her_ without getting discovered. Certainly can't provide for three of us. And what about your mother? Yeah, right now she has diplomatic immunity, but this is the King we're talking about. If she gets found out, she's dead, your dad's dead, they'll find your not-girlfriend, and we're back where we were a minute ago, except the only two other people in the entire damn city who like us are dead too!"

Miles dropped the crate he was carrying and spun to face his friend. Almost immediately Sonic saw that his outburst hadn't exactly been the best idea. "Don't you think I don't know that already? Don't you think I haven't sat up nights on end trying to think of a way out of this shit life we live? Killing Max would only get us into more trouble – it would convince everyone that we were dangerous criminals, and then there wouldn't be _anywhere_ to hide! Be glad we're not the only ones who think this way, and stop trying to fuck it up for all of us! Be fucking glad that Fiona bothered to spend all this time helping us out, be happy that we still have a fucking life, however bad it is!" his arms dropped, and he sagged slightly. A split-second later, he worked out what he'd just said.  
"Fiona? Nice." Sonic whistled, braving another outburst, "What's she look like, then? Is she hot?"

Tails slapped his forehead.  
"Depends if her air con unit's working."  
"You know what I mean."  
"Do I?" Tails was beginning to enjoy himself more now. He found it rather easy to get on Sonic's nerves, and it never seemed to get old.  
"Yeah."  
"Please, elaborate so that we can be certain." He tried to hide his grin as Sonic furrowed his brow.  
"Is she attractive, good looking, you know the stuff."  
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Sonic. It doesn't matter what I think. My definition might be different to yours."

"So, is she attractive, in your eyes?"  
"You know I'm not going to answer that. I'm not giving you more ammunition. If I were you I'd wait, or Amy will have your number on speed-dial before the day is out."  
"Oh come on pal! Throw me a bone here! I gotta know the entirety of your private life or I won't be able to think up witty jokes!"  
"I think I'll live." Miles replied in deadpan, picking up the crate again and moving towards one of the cupboards. Sonic scuffed his feet on the floor, flicking through channels on the TV that Miles had assembled from various pieces of metal and somehow made a plasma-screen from. It was TV. That was all that really interested him about it. No girls though. Pity.  
"So, buddy?" he called out, "What're we going to do, asides from sitting here and watching the tube?"

"Scrape out a living, like we do anywhere we live, only this time Fiona can liaise between us and Mom, so we might get somewhere politically."  
"Booorrrriiiiing!"  
"There's a desert on the other side of the city, You can go and run around in that if you like. Or you could actually try using this."  
Miles threw something at Sonic, who instinctively caught it, his hand moving a little too fast to follow. As his hand closed around the ornate hilt of the longsword, he rolled his eyes.

"Done that already."  
"Seriously? Well learn how to use reverse grip or something, then. Just do something that doesn't involve you exposing us to the authorities."  
"Will do."  
"I think the good doctor tests new robots out there, so you can destroy those if you feel the need."  
"Much better."  
"See, it won't be that hard."

"See, one problem. I can't get to the desert without exposing us."  
"Well use a bloody chaos control. Just stay inside the warehouse while you do it. Oh, and one more thing."  
"What's that?"  
"If anyone sees you, and I mean anyone, kill them." Miles replied, without a trace of humour. "We can't risk anyone identifying you in the city. I'm surprised they haven't done so already." He returned to the sofa, dropping down beside Sonic and snatching the remote from his other hand. He began to peruse the channels himself, finally settling on the local news. "I'll stay here, watch the news and maybe take a walk around. See what I can drum up myself."

* * *

The desert was as one would expect of one in the western hemisphere. Large, flat, with a few sand dunes scattered around, and the occasional cactus. The city sat around a mile from this particular area, which was surprisingly enough to make a difference in its climate. The sun was beating down here, unlike the sky over the city, very much a gathering of storm clouds.

A brilliant flash of blue light heralded the arrival of Sonic, as the blue hedgehog dropped in through a tear in the space-time continuum. He stretched out his legs, then took off, already pushing two hundred miles per hour.

_'Kill them? I hate it when he says things like that. I've got no problem with offing the king and his, but some innocent schmuck who just happens to see me running? Not really fair. Then again, I suppose it's a necessity.'_

Sonic accelerated, striking out further from the city, and heading north, towards the territory of the Acorn Kingdom's rivals. Hopefully, there would be a robot test to crash, so he could have a little target practice. After all, cacti did not make good sparring partners.

* * *

As he watched Sonic disappear, Miles flopped back slightly in his seat, giving silent thanks to the many sound dampening systems he had installed. While the process of beginning chaos control was a near-silent process, the moment that teleportation ceased was a very violent and loud happening. Now he just had to hope that Sonic had the presence of mind to reappear inside the warehouse when he came back.

He waited a few minutes, watching the news and finding nothing useful, before pulling on a brown denim jacket over a _White Fright_ T-shirt and jeans. He didn't have any real love for the band, but it made him blend in and that was what mattered. His tails coiled together, intertwining in such a way they appeared as one, before pushing the door open and walking out into the grim streets of Mobius. Passers-by were once again as sparse as they day they had arrived, the particularly drab weather driving them into any shelter available. Well, that could be to his advantage. He would not need to have any real reason for sitting in a coffee or tea shop other than escaping from the rain. Time to see what he could overhear.

* * *

Sally breathed heavily and slowly, as she stared at her door. This was it. Her plan had no flaws that she could see. Nicole didn't know about it. Her father was busy. Some foreign monarch was arriving today, so the guards were few and far between, drawn from their normal patrol to guard the higher echelons. She even managed to get herself a new outfit, a white belly shirt, denim shorts, a blue jacket, and matching boots. It wasn't much, mostly being made from older clothes, and as such, exposed a bit more than she would have liked, but it was certainly easier to move in than anything else, bar her bodysuit, which would have told Nicole what she was up to instantly.

The lynx was currently "in the toilet", though Sally knew she didn't need it. She had spent a lot of time watching Nicole since the computer had told her that her closest friend was also her worst enemy, and had come to the conclusion that Nicole was not an organic Mobian.

Sally opened the door, and started running. She had spent careful hours padding the bottom of the boots with easily-removable cotton, so she could shed it once outside. For now, it deadened the sound of her footsteps to almost nothing. Ahead, one of the doors swung open and one of the guards – she didn't see which – stomped out in some sort of huff, mumbling about the cards. He didn't even see her. Acting on instinct her hand lashed out, catching him heavily on the temple. On a normal day, perhaps, the guardsman would have been more wary, but the blow was both unexpected and delivered to a very sensitive part of the skull, and he hit the carpeted floor with a muffled thud. No time to hide the body – if Nicole found her while she was stowing it, this whole attempt would have been in vain.

Left ahead…a curtain wall, she pushed it aside. It led onto a balcony – on his more lucid days, Max had taken her there to look out over the city. Now, on this fine morning, it would serve as her way out. It was the only part of the castle that was fixed to the outer wall…and no guards? Dad was definitely getting sloppy in his old age.

She pulled a grappling hook from her backpack, fixed it to the parapet, and threw the rope down. Leaning over the side, she tugged on it, testing the strength, then put on a pair of blue fingerless gloves and started sliding down it. Her heart sped up. She was almost there. She almost wanted to start laughing with joy, but she kept quiet.

The journey down was very long, and fortunately, the rope was too. About halfway down, there was a gatehouse. The west one. The monarch would be making his or her entrance from the east, so this was the safest area to use. There was one guard, but he wasn't looking up. Her feet touched the floor silently, and she quickly shot him with her dart gun, then grabbed him before he could tumble over the edge. She then pulled another rope and grappling hook from her bag, and repeated her checks at the top, before she continued her descent.

It looked to be the only guard on patrol nearby – well, the only one that stood a chance to see her, that was. The outer wall was flatter, and it took a lot more careful climbing to finally touch the grass. Grass! She was outside! But the ordeal wasn't over. There was still a good deal of ground to cover – unguarded individually, but there was always the chance a passer-by would see, or one of the few guards still roving around would catch sight of her. Once in town…some new clothes. Doubtless she was less than decent in her current state, but a change in shirt and the money she had gained from Nicole would hopefully be enough to buy something a little more interesting.

Shouldering the backpack, Sally set off into the gardens, stopping briefly to gather some of the fruit from the trees before heading off again. She had forgotten all this – all childhood memories.  
_"Come now dear, stay where I can see you."  
"Oh, mama!"  
"Don't worry dear, I just want to keep an eye on you."  
"But ma, that's so boring!"  
"That's the rules, dear. Don't pout."_  
So long ago, so long it had been since she had felt the grass, smelt all the wild smells that the palace did not have. It had been almost fourteen years since she had been outside the castle walls, fourteen years of imprisonment, of her life gone.  
Time to get it back.

* * *

Miles dropped the disposable cup into the bin, and opened the lid of his laptop. He had learned that King Max had an important visitor, and since the cafe had no television, he would watch the proceedings on his computer, hoping to catch sight of something he could use against the king. There was also the chance that Fiona would message him, and tell him how things were going at his mother's end.

The live coverage was very dull, just an image of the castle, with a limousine rolling up to the east gate. He watched for about ten minutes, then cottoned onto the fact that cameras were probably not allowed any closer, and footage would be released by the king himself, filmed by the king's propaganda crew, and heavily edited to remove all traces of anything remotely useful.  
{Contacting User ValHack...}  
- T2? Y R U online now?  
- Bored. Please don't use text speak. We're all intelligent here.  
- OK.  
- Any news from Mom?  
- Nope. King's been too busy preparing for his guest to have any more meetings with the Council.  
- Oh, that. You know it's televised. One big longshot of the palace. Most interesting thing was a small dot sliding down one of the walls. Too slow to be falling, though. Wonder what it was...  
- Beats me. Say, now that you're settled, want to arrange a meet-up?  
- May as well. Got nothing else to do.  
- Sweet. When are you good?

Tails looked at the date in the corner. 20th of May.  
- 23rd?  
- Sure. Where?  
- My place. It's a mechanic's. You can look like you're coming for business.  
- Right. Where is it?  
- Just off 4th Avenue. Big place. Can't miss it.  
- Right. See you then.  
- Same.

* * *

A wash of static and general buzzing heralded Sonic's return to the warehouse, as the sound dampeners kicked in to absorb the noise coming off the chaos control. The hedgehog paused after everything had finished, ears twitching as he checked the place.  
"Buddy?" he called out, answered by echoes. "Not home then." Moments later, he decided to go out into the city. Nothing to do back home until they had some money coming in, so taking a look around the place, maybe drumming up some business wouldn't do much harm.

He exchanged his high-speed gear for black leather trousers, a dark blue shirt and bright yellow raincoat, pulling the hood up and grimacing as he felt his spines compressed slightly. Shutting the door behind him, he began to walk. Sonic took corners at random, trusting in his superb sense of direction to get him back home at the end of the day, walking just because he preferred movement to sitting down any day.

Of course, he wasn't looking for a fight. It's probably the reason he found one.

Sally, meanwhile, was walking up a hill, having found her way into the main body of the city. People were giving her strange looks, disapproving glances at her rather shameless attire, and ones that suggested that they recognised her, but didn't know from where. She ignored them, though. She would buy another outfit soon enough, and as far as she knew everyone thought she was dead. She hadn't been allowed outside since the incident in which her mother and brother had died, so most of them would expect her to simply be a look-alike.

A hand closed around her wrist, and she looked up to see another Mobian leering at her. He was a rhino, tall, burly, with murky brown eyes and a neck beard. He was clad in normal-ish clothes, with an anarchist slogan emblazoned on his chest.

"Let go of me." The command was simple, yet spoken with a harshness that she was fairly sure her father would be impressed by.  
"Nah, someone dressed like that on a day like this obviously wants to get some, and I and the boys here are quite happy to service." Sally cursed under her breath, and looked up to see that these "boys" were a shrew, a lizard, an ape, and a petrel, all of them carrying guns.  
"I said, let go of me!" She was much less confident now, fear beginning to edge into her. The rhino just laughed, and dragged her into an alleyway. Her breathing accelerated, and the thug pinned her to a wall.  
"You two hicks guard either end. The rest of us will have some fun with her."  
"We ain't got a lot of time, boss."  
"There are three holes, and three of us, right? She ain't goin' anywhere, and-"

The rhino didn't get any further, as a strong gust of wind ripped through the alley, and a foot struck him in the head, knocking him away. The princess caught a flash of colour and the feel of something passing close by before the rhino was tossed away, hitting the wall like a ragdoll.

"And they say _we're_ the monsters around here? Disgusting." The owner of the foot snarled. Sally looked up, and saw a blue-furred hedgehog stalking towards them. His quills had ripped through the coat he was wearing, and looked sharp enough to cut through solid steel. His eyes seemed to glow in the gloomy street, and emerald fire ignited around his hands. "Now, how many of you am I going to have to step on before you get the picture?" his voice came out as a growl, and he barely reacted as four guns snapped up towards him.

The hedgehog paused, a couple of feet from Sally, and grinned. "Alright, if that's how you wanna play it…" he exploded into motion. There was no keeping up with him – a cry from her left, the princess twisted to see another of the thugs stumble back, blood spurting from a gash in his shoulder. The gun of the ape barked, spitting bullets down the alley as the hedgehog switched direction, ricocheting off the wall and over the stream of lead. He had avoided it, one of the thugs wasn't so lucky. He received the full blast, bullets riddling his chest and head, the petrel stumbling out of the alley and collapsing, quite dead.

Sonic stopped on his heel, watching the final two gangers with a mix of hatred and disgust, daring them to try again. Wisely, they didn't. The two that still remained uninjured grabbed their friend, dragging him with them as quickly as they could to get away from this demon that had come to the squirrel-girl's aid. As they disappeared, the fire in his eyes and hands died, and Sonic began to shake his head, offering his hand to Sally. "Don't mean to rush ya, but if you're gonna come with me then we have to go _now_. I'm already in enough trouble as it is."


	4. Chapter 4

Miles returned to their abode to find it empty. The lights were off and he could not sense any presence around. Apparently Sonic had not yet returned – he couldn't really blame him, the guy was more at home with the speed and the wind, so as long as he kept it out of the public eye there wouldn't be any fault. Hanging his soaked coat on one of the hooks he had fixed to the wall, Miles took a snack from the fridge to get some energy back into him. He had lost a lot of heat outside.  
"Hey, buddy! Lemme in!" Sonic. Fuck. He had been out in the city. And…there was someone with him. What the fuck had he managed to get himself into?

Miles walked over to the entrance, and lifted the shutter, and Sonic stepped in, carrying a squirrel in his arms. He set her down, then turned to face Miles, steeling himself for the oncoming rant.  
"What the hell are you playing at Sonic!? We have to stay hidden or we are going to die! How long is it going to take for you to get that into your thick skull!? I knew it was a bad idea to come here! It hasn't even been a month and you've already done it! Explanation, now!"

"I came back from my run, and I found the place empty. I was bored, so I went out to check out the city. I was walking down the street, and I saw her getting harassed by some thugs. So I blitzed over, and took 'em out. I stopped her from getting raped, Tails."  
Sally shifted uneasily as Sonic said this, and Miles' glare softened slightly, though he didn't relax any.

"Did you at least kill them?" Miles asked.  
"No, but I stayed in the shadows, and moved too quickly to see. I couldn't identify any of their species, so I doubt they could identify me. Wasn't necessary."  
"You're an idiot. Any one of them could have perfect night vision, and you didn't consider that?"  
"I was more worried about saving the girl!"  
"And what good is that if we both get killed because of that? Or she gets executed for associating with us? As you said, we can't provide for three."  
"And if it was Fiona in that situation?"

Miles stopped, and the coldness returned. "But she wasn't. Don't try to guilt-trip me with hypothetical situations. Perhaps if she ends up in that situation, we'll find out. For now, let's work out how we're going to cover up the fact that you just used chaos powers to rescue then kidnap someone who looks to be nothing more than a hooker."  
That was it. "I'm the princess, if that means anything!" the squirrel snapped, and Miles took a second look.

"Well, that just gives me more red-tape to fucking deal with." He snapped at her, returning his gaze to Sonic. "You kidnapped a fucking princess? Sonic, I don't know about you, but I'm trying to organise a future where we're not known for all sorts of heinous crimes! Bloody hell, don't you think you could have been a bit more discrete?" he didn't wait for a reply. He still had some news for the princess. "As for you, Miss Acorn, you're not going anywhere. We're trying to keep a low profile, and don't expect me to bow to you just because your dad is in charge. I've already got enough on my plate here – you're only still alive because you might be of some use. I'll decide your fate after I've sorted out this idiot." He jabbed a thumb at Sonic, before wheeling and stalking towards one of the doors to another part of the abode.

He stopped at the door, and looked back at her. "Oh, don't try to run. For now you're not in any danger, but move towards the door and you'll be dead before you've gone ten paces. Nothing personal; just insurance." Then he left her sight, and Sonic gave her a confused shrug.  
"Sorry." He told her, before following his friend. In the other room, he felt the full force of his friend's rage.  
"Would you make your mind up, at least? First you want to butcher the family, now you're saving the princess? I thought we'd been through this! We can't deal with this anyway, let alone on the king's doorstep!"

"I didn't know it was her, and you're in no position to bitch at her for something that I did. Quite frankly, Miles, you're being a dick. And that's not in the usual sarcastic sense. She was just nearly raped, and since no-one even knows if she's alive or not, stands to reason that she's never left that fucking castle. Can you imagine that? Stuck in a cold, draughty building with the king? You're not the only one who's had a shit life, you know! I've gone through the same shit as you, and I've had to put up with living with the fact that I caused most of the screw-ups, and your fucking attitude! So I'd appreciate it if you calmed the fuck down! I learn from my mistakes, _Miles_! Every one of the times I've exposed us has been different. If I'd had to kill those assholes, I would have! And hey, I get us exposed because I try to do good in this fucking country, while you sit on your emo ass brooding! Do us all a favour and shut the fuck up!"

Sonic turned, and left, heading back to check on Sally. Wow. Talk about a thunderbolt. Sonic must have been building that up for years…did he really sound like that? Was he really the most pessimistic person on the whole damn planet?  
"We came to Mobotropolis to try and get this whole thing sorted…Now look at it." He muttered, to nobody in particular. Then a new thought came to him, a little brighter than the last one.  
"Things have been screwed up again – no changing that. Time to take stock of what we have."

In the other room, Sonic was doing his best to explain things.  
"He sorta does have a right to be mad at me…every time we find somewhere new, settle down, I do something wrong and screw it up for the both of us. Then we have to move. It's been like this all our life."  
"Doesn't sound like much of a life."  
"It isn't, and it's your dad's fault." Sonic had to refrain from spitting the words. "He makes life impossible for any adept, and we don't know why."

"Let's find out." The two looked to Miles, standing in the doorway. "You said you've learned from your mistakes, Sonic? I want to see it for myself."  
"You've got an idea?" Sonic asked, standing.  
"Yes, but first…" Miles stood forward, grabbing one of Sally's arms roughly and fastening a thin wristlet around it. "Just so I can keep tabs on you, dear princess." Then he let her go, and began to outline his plan to Sonic. "Max doesn't yet know that you've abducted your girlfriend here, so we need to have her back in her rooms soon. We've got a few hours before the king actually checks, so you're going to be dropping her off. Chaos control – use it to get in, drop off the princess, then get out. You won't be able to use chaos control inside the palace, so you're going to be running. I want to see exactly how much you have learnt."

"No, I'm not going back there! I've spent eleven years trying to get out, being tricked and lied to, and there is no way I'm going back!" Sally objected vehemently.  
"And if your father realises you've gone?"  
"Too late for that. Nicole will have found out no more than five minutes after I got out He'll know by now, and I'm dead if I go back there."  
"But he'll find a way to pin it on our kind."  
"No he won't. I heard you yelling at each other. Everyone except for you two and someone I spoke to on a computer thinks I died with the rest of our family. If he randomly says that I'm alive and kidnapped by Chaos Adepts, then no-one will believe him. He has to keep quiet or lose all credibility. If it turns out that he lied about me, then people will wonder how much of anything else he's said is a lie."

Miles paused for a second. This girl was smart, and she knew things about the king that no-one else could. If nothing else, she could help with the plans his mother was making.

"She's got a point, Tails." Sonic spoke up.  
"I know that. I was thinking about this. If we take her back, you might be seen by someone other than a stoned gangbanger, and we'll likely never see her again. But if she stays here, we have an extra mouth to feed."  
"I have some money, and I can work. No-one's seen me as a grown woman, if I keep my hair short, get a decent change of clothes, and use a false surname, none would be the wiser. But first, I think we should re-introduce ourselves, and get a fresh start."  
"Fair enough. Sonic the Hedgehog, at your service."  
"Miles Prower. If I decide I like you, you can call me Tails." Miles was a little more reserved about delivering his name.  
"Heh, good luck with that, though." Sonic sniggered.  
"Sally Acorn, but you can refer to me as Sally Squirrel in public. It's not uncommon for people to use species names, am I right?"

"Indeed." Miles replied tersely. "Sonic, you two go and get this girl some decent clothes." He tossed Sally his jacket. "Put this on – we don't want you to be picked up by unwanted attention again, do we?"  
"And you?"  
"I'm going to be staying here. I have some people I need to talk to about this new development. This has just made things even more awkward for all of us." He dropped into the seat at the computer and didn't say another word to the pair, immersing himself in the virtual world until they left. The moment they were gone, he got on the line to Fiona, bringing up a set of schematics in the process.

This time he was free to use webcam and chat.  
"We need to accelerate the Gizoid project." He told her, the moment she answered.  
"What's happened?" Fiona sounded tired, but not particularly surprised.  
"There's been an…unexpected development." He hesitated. "We now share bunks with a princess."  
"You're joking! I was talking to someone who said they were the princess a couple of weeks ago, remember!"  
"That was her. She knows you – not by name, but she knows you. You spoke to her by computer?"  
"Yea."  
"Well, you're going to be meeting her in three days."  
"What's she like?"  
"I didn't get to know her. I'm not interested, though Sonic seems to be. Come on, we have to get this up and running soon. Max will be looking for his daughter, and I want someone watching your back when shit hits the fan. No, it's not that I don't have faith in you-" he objected to Fiona's glare, "-I just want someone on your side. Me and Sonic are sticking together, but you're on your own for the time being. It's not a comfortable thought."

"OK, I understand. How's it coming along at the moment?"  
"Propulsion and weapon systems are in full working order, and the frame and armour can take the stress. Voice transmitter doesn't work, but that's inconsequential right now."  
"What parts do you need?"  
"One optic, the left one, glass to cover both of them, and an empty Chaos Drive. Aside from that, I've got everything I need."  
"You gonna paint this one?"  
"Of course, it looks unfinished without it."  
"I'm thinking yellow armour and orange accents, aside from the blue running lights."  
"I was aiming more towards black and gold, but we'll see about that."  
"Should I tell your mother about the princess?"  
"Not yet. I don't know what role we're going to want her to play yet. If Mom knows, she might get too excited, or make a big deal about it, which I'm not ready for yet. She seems pretty intent on remaining incognito for now, and I don't blame her."  
"Right. Say, do you think she'll make a better ruler than Max?"  
"She would. She's smart, reasonable, and she seems sympathetic towards us. She'd be perfect."  
"So, best-case scenario, we use our wits to depose Max, install her as the new monarch, and she fixes things for us."  
"Exactly."

"I'm not entirely finished with the programming for the 'bot, Tails. I'm still not sure if it will be able to differentiate friend from foe. The programming should work, but each time I run it through the virtual simulation it takes down everything. It doesn't seem to understand the difference at the moment." Fiona said, shifting the subject back to the initial one. "I can't work out where it's going wrong. Can I send you what I've done, see if you can see what I'm doing wrong?"  
"You can, if you want, but if you can't see fault, I doubt I will be able to. Send it over, anyway."  
"Just try." She asked, and a moment later an expression of annoyance crossed her face. "Damn, gotta go. We're running out of time for this line to stay secure. I'm going to have to run through the commands to reset the system…we'll have to talk tomorrow. Sorry, Tails."  
"Don't worry about it." He closed the link, sighing heavily.

He waited for a few minutes, and the programming script came through. Reading through it, he soon isolated the problem. It was quite simple, really. They had forgotten to add a morality code to it. It wouldn't be hard to write, and he could have it done by the time he went to meet Fiona. They could complete the robot then.

Miles brought up the schematics on his laptop, and hit the 'Exploded view' command, opening it up to display each part individually. Zooming in on the processor, he looked at the various chips attached to it, in particular, which could be removed and replaced with the new morality chip.  
"Hmmm, the emotional inhibition chip can go. The morality chip is more important than stopping it from making a connection to the enemy. After all, the chip will still tell it to incapacitate them at best."  
He wiped his hand across the screen, the motion dragging the chip out of the schematics, and another flicking motion deleted it. Then he put thumb and forefinger together on the screen, pulling them apart to trigger another command, opening a new schematic chamber for the new chip.

* * *

"You were meant to ensure she didn't escape. You were meant to know all of her plans."  
"She didn't discourse this one."  
"Then you were meant to find out!" the king roared, and the Nicole hologram flinched back.  
"I cannot read her mind, your majesty. I don't have the capabilities."  
"You were meant to be able to read her like a book. Failing any sort of telepathy, you were meant to be able to interpret emotional responses. Your existence hinges on your usefulness, and that is leaving much to be desired, Nicole." King Maximillian was angry, but his was the worst – he remained terrifyingly calm.  
Once again, Nicole's hologram flickered. Fear in part, but not entirely. It was half to disguise her current task – a series of warrior programs, hastily built and sent against the loyalty programs, this was not the first time that she had attempted to wrest control of herself from the king.  
Her loyalty was not as concrete as everyone believed.

* * *

Sonic walked out of another high-street shop, Sally following him, carrying a bag in each hand. She was wearing a much more modest outfit - a black t-shirt that covered her torso entirely, and blue jeans, much like those that Sonic and Miles wore, though she kept the sleeveless jacket and the boots.

"You want me to carry one of those for you?"  
"I can manage. It's nice to be able to actually do things for myself."  
"You might wanna be a bit less loud about it, Sally."  
"No, you see, I'm from a rich family, and I hated the pampered lifestyle." She replied, winking. Sonic nodded, pleased that she had worked out her false backstory so quickly.

"Rebellious princess syndrome, huh? Let's go find somewhere to sit and eat. We can get to know each other a bit more that way." Sonic suggested.  
"Sounds good, I'm hungry."

Sonic lead Sally to a small burger bar, which he had visited several times since he and Tails had arrived.

"Er, you aren't vegetarian, right?"  
"No, you couldn't be picky at home. You got what you were given, and father was fond of steak."  
"Wow, something me and your dad agree on." Sally stifled a giggle at this, as Sonic found them a pair of seats outside. They sat down, and Sally began to look through the menu. Sonic, being a regular, already knew what he was going to order, so simply watched and waited.

For a couple of minutes, the pair waited in silence, Sally flicking through the menu, examining all the food she had never been able to have in the palace. Sonic found himself watching her, examining her nuances. He noticed she traced words as she read them, to keep track of where she was, her foot tapped slightly and she frowned for a moment, looking over the menu at Sonic as the hedgehog quickly looked away.  
"Sonic, can I ask a stupid question?"  
"Fire away. I'm a stupid guy."  
"What's a goujon? Dad wasn't exactly forthcoming if I asked him about this sort of thing. In the end I just stopped."  
Sonic tapped the side of his head for a moment, thinking quickly. "I think it's fish…or something. Can't say more than that. Sorry."  
"Don't worry about it." Sally grinned over a pair of sunglasses. "I just don't get all the complicated names for everything. Bit of a waste of time if you ask me."

The waiter came over and took their orders, Sally asking for a fish platter and a glass of white wine, Sonic ordering a pair of chilli-dogs and a coke.  
"Chilli dogs?" Sally grimaced, "those can't be good for you."  
"Most good things in life aren't. S'pose that applies to me kidnapping you." He replied, glancing over to her with a quick, relaxed grin.  
"Well, considering the alternative, it's positively blissful." Sally replied, mirroring the grin. "Thank you for that, by the way. I didn't get to thank you properly, since I was too shocked, and then we were arguing with Miles, so I'll say it now."  
"It was no problem. I mean, I couldn't let a pretty lady such as yourself suffer... that at the hands of those creeps."

Sonic paused when he realised what he had said, but thankfully, Sally simply took it as a compliment, and smiled.  
"Well aren't you a regular hero?"  
"Eh, I try."  
Sonic was enjoying the praise - it strengthened his already large ego, when the food arrived.

"I warn you, I eat like a pig. Feral, at that."  
"Well, it'll be nice to see someone eat without one of their fingers at a ninety degree angle to the others."  
"Trust me, it won't."  
Both tucked in, and though Sonic's eating habits were less than refined, Sally didn't mind too much.  
"Say, why does your dad hate us so much?" Sonic whispered as he polished off his first chilidog.  
"It's a long story." Sally sighed.  
"Well, I've got time to listen, just keep your voice down."  
Sally nodded, and began reciting the story that she had been told.

"When he was still a young boy, father found out that the boy who would have become my uncle was murdered by a green-furred hedgehog, who turned out to be a Chaos Adept. He grew up fearing them, and it twisted him from an idealistic youngster into, well, himself. I never knew the nicer side, and I have no idea what my mother saw in him."  
"Ouch, that kinda sucks. I'm glad you're nothing like him, Sally."  
"Thank-you. He wanted me to be like him, though. He tried to convince me that if adepts murdered my uncle then all of them were monsters. For a while, I almost believed him. In the end it was Nicole that _saved_ me…" he could hear disbelief in her voice, "she taught me not to judge a group of many by the deeds of one."


	5. Chapter 5

The next three days between Sally's supposed 'kidnapping' passed without much incident. Things settled down for a bit, and they were all thankful for the reprieve. It was a nice change from running – they were still hiding, but not so actively, and now with the repair business up and running, they had a somewhat steady income. They had yet to find a job for the fugitive princess – it was becoming a chore isolating her particular strengths. She had never been able to experiment and test herself, living in the castle.  
Miles was the only one who didn't feel uplifted by this strange calm – it felt too much like a premonition, the calm before a storm, and refused to be caught off-guard. If anything his brooding mood became worse, he became introspective in those few days.  
Then Fiona showed up.

It was around eleven in the morning, when Miles heard the gentle knock on the shutter. Instantly, he perked up, a smile adorning his lips briefly. He started heading towards the door, and as he did so, he passed Sonic and Sally, who were sitting on the couch, watching TV.  
"Sonic, if you screw this up and make asses of us, I swear I will kill you." He warned, no hint of sarcasm, before lifting the shutters.

Fiona was standing on the doorstep, clad in a black belly shirt with a yellow stripe down the middle, black leggings, and yellow, knee-high boots. In one hand, she was holding an overnight bag, in the other a hold-all.  
"Hi honey." She greeted. "You look even more handsome in person."  
"Er, thanks."  
Miles had little experience with such a situation, and as such, was struggling a bit. A moment of awkward silence descended on the scene, but thankfully Sonic was there to break it.

"Yo, buddy, you gonna leave your girlfriend on the step or are you gonna let her in? Day isn't that great you know." he called over the back of the sofa, grinning at the look of pain that briefly flickered over his friend's features, before he stepped aside to allow Fiona to take her first look inside the hideout.  
"Nice place, Vector knows how to choose, doesn't he?" she remarked, dropping the hold-all by the door, quickly switching directions and pecking Miles on the cheek before he could react. The male fox felt his cheeks blush, a hand going to cover it as Fiona sniggered at his embarrassment. "Come on, if we can't do that how are we ever going to get anywhere?" she asked, sauntering over to one of the empty chairs and dropping into it, hanging the overnight bag over the arm.

"Sonic the hedgehog at your service." Saluted the hedgehog lazily from where he sat. Sally, who was closer, leant forward to shake her hand.  
"Sally-" she paused.  
"Sally Acorn." Miles finished for her. "Don't worry Sal, she knows."  
"So _you're_ Sally Acorn." Fiona sounded pleased. "We've met already, remember? I'm the reason you found out about Nicole."  
Realisation hit the squirrel princess like a sledgehammer. "That was _you?_ Didn't anyone want to tell me this?" she asked to the room in general.  
"I had no idea myself." Sonic replied.  
"I figured that it would be better to let you meet her in person."  
"Right. Well, Fiona, I want to thank you. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be getting caught over and over again. If there's anything I can do to help your cause, I'll do it."  
"Wow, thanks." Fiona said.

"For now, we need you to lay low." Miles said, shutting the door and sitting down in the chair nest to Fiona's. "My mother can be... excitable. Were she to find out that you're with us and willing to help, she might make a big deal of you before we're sure if it's a good idea."  
"Right."

"So Fiona, do you have the parts we need?" Miles asked, anxious to continue the project.  
"It's all in the hold-all, Tails. But how are you going to fill up the Chaos Drive. From the size you wanted, you can't charge it yourself without leaving your energy too drained."  
"Sonic will charge half of it, and I the other. That should be enough. Provided we get decent rest over the next few days, we'll be fine."  
"Right. Should we get started?" Fiona gestured vaguely.  
"Oh, yes." Miles scooped up the hold-all, carrying off with Fiona in tow, towards the area of the warehouse he had managed to convert into a lab.

"You two lovebirds take it steady in there, ya hear?" Sonic called out to them, and Miles paused for a moment – he had a card up his sleeve too.  
"Thanks. I'll take that as confidence from the guy who can't admit to his crush on the princess." Then he walked off, leaving Sonic fumbling for an explanation. Fiona grinned at him and followed her boyfriend out of sight, and it became a party of two.

"Is that so?" Sally teased, sensing her opportunity for a bit of a laugh.  
"Ah- well, see- the thing-" Sonic tried to start, making wild gestures with his hands and frowning repeatedly.  
"Come on, it's a yes or no question." The princess prompted.  
"Ah crap…" Sonic buried his head in his gloves with a soft _thwap._  
"You're not helping yourself." Chided Sally.  
"At least if I say yes it'll be just like any other couple…" the hedgehog moaned from under his gloves.  
"What, you're happy but the father hates you because he thinks his darling daughter should be with someone with more money? Yep, that sounds about right."  
They shared a brief laugh before Sonic got his courage and dignity back enough so to emerge from his makeshift shelter.

"So what's it to be, hero?" Sally prodded him in the ribs, "you still haven't answered my question."  
For Sonic, this was the worst possible situation to be in. Simply because _he didn't know!_ Sure, he'd grown fonder of Sally in the brief time they had known each other, but it was hardly enough for him to foster a relationship. There had been a couple of girls prior, but they had been one night stands, things that hadn't really ever managed to go anywhere because of some incompatibility issue – that was where Amy had started. The thing is, with Sally, he couldn't really give his answer to either pool. She was forcing him to answer a conundrum to which he had not figured out the solution.  
"Sal…" he started, figuring something needed to be said, "I like you, but I'm crap at making the right choice. I just don't know yet…making shit decisions has always been what gets me and Tails moving on to somewhere else…don't suppose we can just wait and see?"  
"If you want to." The squirrel girl smiled, and layed her hand on his shoulder. Sonic sighed, and collapsed back into the couch.

"Thanks, Sal. One question, though."  
"Go on."  
"What's your opinion of me?"  
"Well, we've only known each other for a few days, but you're certainly one of the nicest people I've ever known. You've been kind to me, even if you've got something of an attitude, but yes, I agree that we should get to know each other a bit before we decide on anything like... that."  
"Thanks."  
"You need to stop taunting Miles about his relationship with Fiona, though. Not only is it rather low, but every time you do it, he just gets you with a witty comeback."

"If I did that, I wouldn't have anything left to do."  
"Course you would. Come on, we've both agreed we should get to know each other a bit more. Let's go out for dinner, leave those two to their own devices a bit, and we can get a bit of time to talk."  
"What, like a date?" Sonic's attitude changed almost immediately. Now _this_ was ground he was familiar with.  
"Call it…" Sally thought briefly, "call it an experiment."

* * *

"Is he always like that, Sonic?" Fiona pressed Miles as they worked.  
"Pretty much. You'll get used to it if he doesn't get us all caught."  
"Everyone needs a comedian."  
"You don't need a comedian of Sonic's level. I guess that's why I like you;" he set aside the welding torch and pushed up his helmet, "you don't feel the need to make everything into a joke all the time."  
"Sonic's just trying to deal with this, Tails. You do it your way, he does it his."  
"I guess. And I'm not exactly the easiest person to deal with, either."

"There you go."  
"I just wish he'd lay off this whole thing about me liking you."  
"Why is he making such a big deal of it anyway?"  
"I've been introverted for most of my life. I think he's just pleased with the idea of me having any kind of relationship with someone else."  
"Well there you go. You told me that he treats you like a brother, and you've seen him as a surrogate one. He's just happy for you. It's just that his way of showing it is-"  
"Being a dick?"  
"Oh come on, you can't say that you don't give as good as you get."  
"Heh, true. Now, can you hold his leg in place while I fasten the joint?"  
"Sure."

Fiona took hold of the limb, while Tails ratcheted the joint into position. Once it locked in place, Fiona pushed it up, testing the articulation, and they soon found that it had a standard range of motion for a Mobian of that size.

"OK, so that's the flight stabilizers installed." Fiona stated. "Now what?  
"Well, we need to fuel the Chaos Drive, but Sonic's gone out."  
"Why not call him back here?"  
"He took Sally with him, and as I said, he's got a thing for her. I want them to bond, that way Sonic might start to think about collateral for once. In the past, he's had little cause for worry. I can get out of situations almost as well as he can. Sally can't, though, so if they do decide to try something out, then he'll start thinking about her, and how his actions could affect her, rather than not worrying at all."  
"You're manipulating them. That's harsh."

"It's not as awkward for them as the way you would do it." He shot back, "you'd push them together then leave the room."  
"What? No I wouldn't!"  
Tails looked away, smiling slightly. It was a kind face in the half-light between the darkness of the lab and the spotlight that illuminated their work. For a brief instant, Fiona saw all that pain, all the suffering that her friend had endured shed like a second skin. For a moment, she saw Tails as he might have been, had things been different.

"Fiona?" he asked, "don't you think you could have done better?"

The fox-girl looked at him, trying but unable to catch his eye. "What do you mean?"  
"Don't you think things could have worked out differently, had you not met me? Wouldn't your life be easier?"  
She set her own tools down. "Why the sudden melancholy?"  
"I don't know." he admitted, "maybe because this is one of the few moments I can talk to someone in all seriousness. Don't you think that perhaps, if you had never met me, never even heard of me, don't you think you would have lived better?"  
Fiona considered his words. "Maybe, but I don't care all that much. We met, didn't we? This is how it happened."  
"True, but if you hadn't met me I wouldn't be able to tell you I…love you, and put you into even more trouble." He spluttered the last words out, his face once again turning red. Fiona stopped, her eyes widening slightly, then smiles, her cheeks turning as red as the rest of her fur. She walked over to Miles, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Tails, if I hadn't met you, I'd still be setting in my house, running CAA and talking to your mother about stopping Max. You didn't put me in any more danger than I put myself in as is, and I love you too."  
Fiona leaned in, and pressed her lips against Miles', closing her eyes and allowing herself to get lost in the emotion. She felt a hand on her back, and another cradling her head, before his twin tails curled around her body, as if to shield her from harm.

Eventually, the two foxes parted, short of breath, and stared into each other's eyes.  
"So, I saw the overnight bag." Miles began, finally finding his voice. "We only have three beds, and one of those is a mattress on the floor. Where are you planning on sleeping tonight?" Fiona smirked seductively, and traced a finger down Miles' collarbone.  
"Well, I was thinking, that since we're together now, that I could share with you. How do you like that?"

Miles blushed beet red. He hadn't been expecting Fiona to be so forward with the subject, especially so soon after they had confessed their feelings.  
"Uh, sure, i-if you want to." He stammered.  
"Great, I don't have to use the airbed I packed."  
Fiona pecked him on the lips quickly, and pivoted away, lifting her tail up and waving her rear at Miles as she did so.  
"Please don't act like this when Sonic and Sally get back."  
"I won't, don't worry. Flirting is exclusively for our alone time."  
"Phew."

* * *

"You _do_ see the importance of this, don't you, Geoffrey?"  
"Yes, your majesty."  
"You do understand what will happen, should you fail, don't you?"  
"Yes, your majesty."  
"You will deploy your best men. They will search every corner of this city, then every corner of Mobius if necessary. She will be found unharmed, and brought back to me. This will be conducted in absolute secrecy. If any of your men compromise that, they will be killed without trial. Do I make myself clear?"  
"Yes, your majesty."  
"Then go. Make yourself and your men useful before I decide that this whole 'Secret Police' idea was just a waste of time and money."

* * *

"So, where do you want to go tonight?" Sonic asked, as he lead Sally down the street.  
"Not sure yet. Maybe something that I can eat with my hands, rather than cutlery. Something else for the new experience list."  
"So, a fast food joint or a sub shop?"  
"Sounds good."  
"I'm leaning towards the latter. Trust me, you don't want fast food. Sure, like it when things are fast, but I'd rather not eat a large Dubious Meat Product burger, with a side order of Food Poisoning, washed down with a medium Piss in a Cup."

Sally giggled at Sonic's little outburst, and the hedgehog started laughing too, though he was more nervous about it.  
"Let's go with the sub shop, then."  
"Awesome." He gave he a thumbs up with his right hand – his left was wrapped around Sally, a gesture she had learnt was just something Sonic did. He was very free-willed about that sort of thing. Not exactly trusting with everyone, but always friendly, if you didn't get on his nerves.

The night was quiet now – most of the people were either in cafes of some sort, or home, and thus the pavement was nearly deserted for the two wanderers. What a match – the rebellious princess escaping from her father, and the rogue wanderer, hiding in holes and running from the fight…it sounded like something from a romance book, but nothing like that just yet.

After a few minutes their collective body heat was enough to warm each other, inure them from the wind on that slightly smoky evening. This was new to Sonic, taking it slow, ambling along a pavement with a girl under his arm, all new. For the first time in his life he really felt out of his depth. When he'd screwed up before and it had just been him and Tails, they could just pack it all up and run. He had to face a rant later, but they were _safe._ Two chaos adepts, two chaos controls, gone. But he had just managed to skew that game, bringing Sally into this. If she got herself caught up in this? She might want to run from her father, but she hadn't spent her entire life on the run, she wouldn't survive the rough and tumble, the rocks and thorns you had to fight. What if she got involved in this?

"Was it a mistake, you think? Me escaping from my father?" Sally asked him suddenly, as if reading his thoughts. Of course, the answer was no contest.  
"I've got your back on this one. If I have doubts about something, I run. It's part of my life."  
"Tails doesn't seem to feel the same way." She had quickly started calling the fox by his nickname, unconsciously mirroring the behavioural patterns of those around her. Miles hadn't seemed to mind, he had accepted the change without comment.  
"Heck, I don't _like_ it; I hate it just as much as he does." Sonic responded with a knowing nod, "the difference is that I'm readier to run than he is. I get he wants to sort this out for all of us, but I don't know how. Running is something I do know how to do, so I do it."

"Do you always run away from your problems?" The question surprised Sonic, but it wasn't entirely unexpected.  
"There's not a lot else I can do, Sal. If I fight back, I might kill someone, which I don't like doing. I don't want to run away from my problems, it's just the only thing that works."  
"Right. Wait, why did you two never go somewhere else, like Soumerca?"  
"Because everywhere else is under your dad's thumb. Him or the doctor. They've both got a whole friggin' empire, and if we're going to be fugitives, we might as well be fugitives somewhere we can speak the language."  
"Good point."

By now, they had reached the sub shop, and stepped inside. The heat form outside died immediately, replaced by a fuzzy warmth that made the pair shudder with pleasure.

"Now, Sal, welcome to the wonderful world of toasted sandwiches." Sonic said, as if he was introducing some kind of reality show. Sally giggled again, as she quickly found the duo some seats.


	6. Chapter 6

On reflection, Sally decided that finger-food might be something she would rather care to sample infrequently. It wasn't that she didn't like the food – that had been delicious – just it left grease and flavourings clinging in her fur all around her hands, not a particularly nice feeling. She also lacked the wipe-able gloves that Sonic wore almost like his trademark. As Sonic led her home, she was taken back to that brief jest from earlier than day. How serious was it all? Once again he had his hand round her shoulders, that protective gesture…hmm.  
"How was that for your new experiences list?" asked Sonic, interrupting her reverie.  
"Maybe not my best idea." She admitted, "but we don't have to all like the same things."  
"Didn't enjoy it, then?"  
"It tasted fine, but my hands are really sticky."  
"We'll get you some gloves before we go again."  
"Yeah, the only pair I have is that fingerless pair I wore the day we met."  
"That can easily be sorted."  
"Still, it did taste quite nice, so I don't wholly regret it."  
"Cool. Now, we can't be too long, since Tails will want me to help him with the core for his little pet project."  
"Right."

Sally had noticed that despite Miles' complaining that Sonic was too reckless, he was being remarkably cautious. He always kept his voice low, and she hadn't seen him spaz out and start running once. Maybe the fox had been overreacting…it didn't seem like him though. Besides, he wasn't this way around Miles – he didn't stay too close to him, he wasn't guarding his back the entire time. How important was she to him? Three, almost four days since they had met and he was like this to her almost all the time. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy his company, it just seemed strange that he was being this defensive.

"We're back." Were they? The rest of the walk had disappeared from her mind.  
"Oh, right. Come on, let's go in."  
Sonic opened the door - he had a key with him now, and stepped inside, then closing the door behind Sally. Miles and Fiona were curled up on the couch, watching TV, something that the group seemed to do a lot of. The fox was smiling, and it didn't fade when he turned to face his friend.

"If you say anything I will beat you into unconsciousness with a chair." He threatened, though this time, he didn't sound serious about it. Simply knocking out was also a step out from outright killing- something good must have happened between them. Sonic bided silently, and he and Sally took the chairs.  
"You two look happy." The hedgehog remarked, grinning. He had a pretty good idea about these things.  
"We are." Fiona answered for Miles. "This emotionally-stunted idiot finally agreed to share a room." Next to her, Miles coughed in alarm and received an elbow in his ribs for his trouble. "Now, Sally, if you can just talk the same sense into your boyfriend there then we're all set."  
Sally felt the blush rising, but it was Sonic's turn to be embarrassed for once. His hands came up in a placating gesture, waving off the accusation, "Hey, hey! We're not…that close.

Fiona shrugged. "Oh, my mistake." She didn't seem to mind either way, and went back to watching the television, head cradled under Miles arm.

Sonic looked down at Sally. "She just made this whole thing _really_ awkward, didn't she?"  
"Yep." The squirrel-girl agreed. "I don't mind if you don't."  
"Y-what?" the hedgehog took a double-take.  
A wailing screech cut across their conversation, and almost instinctively Sally's hands seized whatever was closest, including, unfortunately for him, one of Sonic's quills. He grunted as the skin was pulled and Sally quickly released him, searching for the source of the noise.  
"Can't stomach a horror movie?" Fiona again.

"Sorry, I'm new to the whole thing. My father was... controlling with what I was allowed to watch. At the same time, I'm surprised that you _can._"  
"I've had practice."  
"You really watch this sort of thing for fun?"  
"I do, and Sonic probably does as well. Tails watches them to pick apart all of the flaws and inconsistencies."  
"Hey!" the fox protested.  
"Oh, come on, sweetie. You started a topic on CAA to bitch about movies." Retorted Fiona.  
"Only the king's anti-Adept propaganda films, cunningly disguised as horror flicks."  
"Still counts."  
"Wow, dad really does that?"  
"Trying to appeal to the gore-fest fans, rather than making anything of high-quality, but yeah."  
"Wow."  
"I know. Now ssssh, these guys are about to get their heads ripped off by a six foot tall hell-beast."

"This one again?" Sonic complained loudly. "Come on, We've all seen _Days of Fury_ way too many times. Echidna myth doesn't make good movies."  
"At least someone agrees with me." Miles added, the group lapsing into silence even so. Despite the protest, Sonic watched the movie in silence, though Sally found herself unable to sit still. Horror movies were yet another new experience, and thus far she wasn't enjoying them. Looking round, the other three were watching quite calmly, expressions of enjoyment or even amusement on their faces. _How could they watch this?_ Every new scream or roar or bloody spurt had Sally jumping in her seat.

A fresh bout of the stuff saw her curl up under Sonic's arm, and he went along with it almost unconsciously. Only a little later when things had calmed down temporarily did he properly notice, glancing down at the princess, but choosing not to say anything. Instead, he leant over and planted a very quick kiss on her forehead, causing her to jump yet again.  
"What was that?" she whispered, trying not to disturb the pair of foxes.  
"Trying to find out how much I like you." He replied.  
"And?" She asked, thankful that the darkness was hiding her flushed face.  
"So far, I've made it to "a lot", if that helps." Sonic admitted. He could have sworn that he saw Miles' ear twitch. _He heard that. Crap._ This was going to be really awkward once the movie stopped, giving that with all the teasing he had been doing over this past few weeks about Miles and Fiona, he was sure that the vulpine was going to pass the remainder of the film's run-time thickening up some ridiculously embarrassing, brutal vengeance.

Half an hour later, the credits began to roll, and Fiona flicked off the TV and ejected the disc from the DVD player. She carefully freed herself from Miles' embrace, walked over to the machine, and put the small, plastic circle back in the box. Sonic, still nervous about what Miles was scheming, even more so now that the younger male had not moved at all since the ear-twitching. He turned his attention to Sally, who was clinging tightly to him, eyes wide. Her breathing was starting to return to normal, and the colour was running back into her face beneath her fur. Instinctively, he started to rub her back gently, and he placed a finger under her chin, lifting her head up to meet his eyes.

"You okay?"  
"_What the hell was that?_"  
"We don't really know..." Fiona butted in. "The most we've got is "even bigger hell-beast", I'm afraid."  
"R-right."  
"Probably should have picked a softer movie. That's not a good one for first-timers." Miles added. Fiona rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.  
"Sorry, but it's the only one I have which isn't garbage, or torture porn."  
"Sooo, garbage?"  
"Pretty much."  
"_Torture porn?_"  
"Don't ask."

The next two minutes were spent sitting awkwardly, before Miles stood up, scooped Fiona into his arms, and carried her, bridal style, towards his room, while Sonic and Sally watched from the couch. When he reached the door, Miles looked over his shoulder, grinning.

_Here it comes;_ Sonic thought. _Here's the comment he's been saving. Life over in three-two-one..._

"Good night, you two." Miles said, stepping through the door and shutting it behind him with a flick of a tail. Sonic sat in stunned silence. _He didn't say anything?_ This was a complete turn-around from usual. _Either he's thinking up some kind of plan, or he's very pleased with something._  
The sound of creaking bedsprings filled the room, causing Sonic and Sally to glance at one another awkwardly. _Welp, mystery solved, I can rest easy._

Sally realised that she was clinging to her friend's body, and released him, blushing heavily. Sonic was surprised that the movie had affected her so much, to reduce her to holding him like that.  
"You OK, Sal?"  
"I'll live. It's just a film. No-one actually dies when they make these things, right?"

This was awkward. Sonic was fairly certain that some of those anti-Adept films had been snuff-films, the 'villain' an actual Adept who was indeed killed in the climax.  
"That's right." He said. _No need to make her even worse._ He told himself. "You going to be okay on your own tonight? You look pretty shaken up." A hint of Sally's normal self returned to her, and she smiled again.  
"I think I'll be alright, but I'll be sure to call you if I have a nightmare."  
"Sarcasm? You're fine."  
"As you said, I'm shaken up, that's all."  
"'Kay, see you in the morning, then. Good luck sleeping with those two going at it."

Sally nodded, and quickly pecked Sonic on the cheek.  
"Payback for earlier, and thank-you." She whispered, turning away to hide her blush. She walked off, and Sonic, after recovering, headed to his room as well.

* * *

No-one mentioned the previous night, Sonic carefully avoiding drawing any attention to the symphony of bed-springs he and Sally had heard from Miles' room. Nonetheless he had to fight very hard to fight down the embarrassment every time he looked over at his friend, who seemed entirely unphased. _Come on, guy is moving up in the world – stupid innuendo – let him have his fun._ He went about breakfast as usual, and the abode was silent for a good deal of time during the morning. Finally, as noon went, Miles broke the silence.  
"Sonic, I need your help in the lab."  
"Sure, what for?"  
"We need to charge a chaos drive. Don't ask what it is, it'll take too long to explain, we just need to each contribute some chaos energy to it. Come on, it won't take too long." The fox got up, pulling open the door to the small laboratory. Sonic caught a glimpse of metal and wiring before Miles was blocking his view, waiting for him.

"You two alright for a minute without the speed freak?" he asked Fiona and Sally.  
"Yea, we'll be fine." Fiona didn't look up from the TV, and Sally gave a reassuring nod, and the hedgehog followed his friend into the lab, closing the door behind him.  
"Is he really that concerned about us?" Sally asked the fox-girl.  
"Pretty much. Maybe not as much as he was last night. Don't know what you did to that guy, but you've managed to hit it off with Sonic really well."  
"Hmm?" the squirrel glanced up from her book.  
"I mean yea, he likes to keep people close, but I saw all those antics you two were getting up to on that sofa. I have an eye for these things, you know."

Sally blushed, and managed a nervous smile.

"It's nothing too serious." She said, trying to convince herself as much as she was Fiona.  
"Oh come on, Sally, who are you trying to kid? You like him, he obviously likes you, so why try to avoid it? Can't use the different classes thing as an excuse, your dad's been pretending that you're dead for fourteen years, and you've already effectively flipped him off by bailing on him."  
"Well, I'm worried about him. If we're together, he might do something stupid and get himself hurt trying to help me."  
"He's Sonic the Hedgehog, he'll end up in situations like that no matter what. Tell him how you really feel. He needs it more than it shows. Look at how happy Tails is after finally admitting everything?"

_-Knock knock-_

"Shit." Fiona swore, pushing herself off the sofa. "Is anyone supposed to know we're here?"  
"I don't think so. Should we get one of the others?"  
"I'll see who it is, first." Fiona went to the shutter, pulling open a small viewing hatch to see who or what was standing outside. The sight was not a welcome one.  
_"Who the hell are you?"_ The same question left each Mobian's lips so quickly it could have been in unison. The Mobian in question happened to be another hedgehog. Just taller than Fiona and coloured a vivid shade of pink, wearing a bright red one-piece sleeveless skirt.  
"You first." Demanded Fiona. The hedgehog seemed only too happy to oblige.  
"Amy Rose! Is Sonic there!" she asked in an overly-perky voice.  
"Wait here." Fiona's eyes narrowed as she shut the hatch. "Get those idiots in here now." She told Sally, who hurried to obey. She didn't know how to deal with this, so going along was the best idea. She returned a few moments later with the two adepts, both of whom looked drained to some extent. Fiona walked over to them, so she could keep her voice as low as possible.

"Sonic, there's someone at the door for you." She said quietly. If it was possible for him to become more pale, he did. "Hedgehog, pink, little taller than me, red dress, annoying voice."  
"Crap. _Her._"  
"Who is she, Tails?" Sally asked, edging closer to Sonic. The way he was reacting to the news was worrying her. If this girl could make Sonic nervous, what would she do to her?  
"Her name is Amy Rose. She and Sonic dated for all of two days about a year and a half ago, which is currently his record for shortest relationship ever. She seemed nice at first, being amiable and sympathetic to us, but when she and Sonic hooked up, she became ridiculously possessive, and she practically attacked every girl that walked into Sonic's field of vision. She also tried to get rid of me, so she could have Sonic all to herself, seeing me as a distraction. Sonic told her to leave, but she didn't. Long story short, she got herself arrested for stealing a prototype anti-Adept weapon and attacking someone with it, and myself and Sonic skipped town. Only time to date that neither of us accidentally revealed our powers before we left. Since then she has pursued Sonic relentlessly. Suffice to say, she's bad news."

Sally raised her eyebrows, and looked at Sonic, as did Fiona.  
"Look, I didn't know she was a psycho until _after_ the first date. Which, for the record, was crap. She dragged me into a movie, but it sucked. Not a single explosion or death. Lame."  
"What do we do?"  
"I'll go deal with her." Miles groaned, walking towards the door.  
"Damnit." Fiona muttered. "Just when I'd got him to stop being a dick. You might wanna cover your ears, Sally. This is probably going to be vicious. That or she'll barge right past him."  
Miles approached the door, subtly making his eyes glow- not enough to be noticeable to a bystander, but enough for Amy to see.

"You shouldn't be here. We both told you to leave, he's not interested, and you've got so many assault charges filed against you you're bound

to get us noticed."  
"Shut up, kid. I'm here for Sonic. If he's not here, I'll just wait inside."  
Miles wanted to smirk at how quickly her tone could change when the situation didn't favour her, but he didn't. For all he knew, she was still carrying that anti-Adept hammer.

"You have no right to enter my home."  
"You're a mechanic, right? I have this thing that needs fixing."  
"We're closed, hours are on the other entrance, and you need to book a time."  
Amy tried to shove her way past Miles, but he blocked her path. Still, she caught a glimpse of the inside, long enough to see Sally and Fiona.

"Who are they?" She demanded. "The vixen who answered the door, and the squirrel?"  
"The vixen is my girlfriend. The squirrel is a friend of hers, whom she introduced to us. Nice girls – don't take nicely to intruders either though, and Fiona is pretty good with throwing knives."  
"I'm not leaving until I've seen Sonic."  
"He's out. I don't know where, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you."  
Amy grumbled, and turned tail, before walking off down the street. Miles let out a heavy sigh, and closed the door, walking back over to his friends. Sonic leaned out of the bathroom.

"You owe me." The fox groaned, before wrapping his arms around Fiona.

* * *

"We aren't going to all be able to stay here, you know. I can't support all four of us." Miles grumbled. Late afternoon, and things hadn't been a great day. Charging the core had left both he and Sonic drained considerably, and Amy's unwanted appearance hadn't helped matters either. "Besides, it isn't safe. We've got two chaos adepts, the leader of the pro-adept website and the apparently dead princess under one roof here. If anyone decides to attack us, we're just grouped together to be rounded up."

"Well, I have to go home anyway – I didn't bring all my stuff, and it's got all the data from CAA." Fiona agreed.  
"And we don't want that falling into the wrong hands – we don't want anyone else to see it."  
"We've still got a problem though." The vixen added.  
"Yep." Miles tilted his head to Sally, who was once again cradled under Sonic's arm. The fox found himself briefly remembering the comment he had heard the night before. Hold on. He hadn't done anything about that. _Time to play that card._ "Hey, princess, fancy sharing house with Fiona for a bit?"  
The fox-girl was the first to react. "Yea, come on, I can show her my full collection of movies."  
"No." Sally replied without opening her eyes.  
"Come on, princess." Miles pressed, "like I said, I can't earn enough for three of us, and if you go with Fi then you're more likely to be safe if things go wrong. Probably a good idea to get some distance from the speed freak too." He added, "get any closer to him you'll start to smell the same. Lovebirds spend weeks apart, after all."

At that, the two other Mobians quickly separated.  
"Come on, you two, don't tell me you aren't going out." Fiona teased, "Even this numpty here can see you two have something going on." She nudged Miles, "come on Sally, I was joking. Besides, maybe I can show you a few tricks. You need to learn a bit about a normal life, and these two can't teach you everything, precisely because they're not normal. Listen, maybe I can teach you a few more practical things in the process, too."  
"I don't really have a choice, do I?" The squirrel-girl asked to no-one in particular.  
"Not really." Was the general agreement.  
"Well then, when do we leave?"


	7. Chapter 7

_What was wrong with that guy? Couldn't he see that Sonic was the one?_  
Amy traipsed along the pavement, scuffing and kicking her feet in cracks and shunting tins out of the way. Once again that hammer had led her straight to him…to find that the bloody thing wasn't doing it right. He hadn't even been there!

"Excuse me, miss? Could I have a word?" the pink hedgehog stopped and looked up at the shadow falling over her. It didn't help much – the Mobian was wearing a plain white suit with cream buttons, and gold cuffs, a pair of black panelled gloves covering his paws. The creature's face jutted slightly, though the fur was well-trimmed...panther? Puma?  
"No." she told him, and made to move past, stopping as his hand moved out to block her.  
"My apologies. I did not mean to say it as a question. You have some very…important information that the state would find interesting."  
_Crap._

"What sort of information?"  
"It concerns…fugitives. Adept fugitives. Your anti-adept weapon led us to you. We're looking for information on a pair of such people. A fox, yellow-furred, two tails. A hedgehog, blue-furred. Understand that if you withhold information, more unorthodox methods will be used to acquire it."  
_They wanted Sonic and Miles…_ Did she really want to give him away? The previous day came back suddenly, a brief flash…the vixen and the squirrel…bitches. Sonic could get out of things, they couldn't…

"Then lucky for you…" she glanced up at the well-dressed cat, "I know exactly where they are."

* * *

The attack began at sunset, and Geoffrey felt he couldn't have planned it better. A squad approached Fiona's house, long shadows providing plenty of cover. The squad leader, and Geoffrey's wife, Hershey, knocked on the door heavily, handgun in her grip and four men holding a battering ram at the ready.

Hershey positioned herself so that anyone using the peephole would be unable to see anyone but her, and forced a disarming smile, just as a blue eye appeared in small gap. It was blue, but the colour was darker than Hershey remembered. Then it moved away, and a more familiar icy colour took its place. They heard latches and locks being undone, and Hershey pulled another pistol from her belt.  
The door swung open, and Hershey pressed the muzzle of the gun against Fiona's stomach.

"Wha-? Hersh!?" The vixen gasped, Since her parents' executions, Geoffrey and Hershey had raised the young vixen, until Fiona ran away to try and bring Max down.  
"Sorry, Fiona, but treason is treason." Hershey replied sadly, before she pulled the trigger. With a soft click, something stabbed into Fiona's gut. Instantly, her head started to swim, she stumbled back, and collapsed, revealing a dart stuck in her.

"Oh Chaos help me." Someone muttered, as Hershey stepped over her adopted daughter, only to find a squirrel pointing a gun at her. The young woman was shaking with fear.  
"Princess, please, put the gun down." Sally only shook her head, and tensed her finger on the trigger.  
One of the men who had previously been readying the ram reached down and rolled Fiona's sleeping form over, and started locking handcuffs around her wrists.  
"Get off her!" Sally yelled, lifting her weapon slightly, and pulling the trigger. The gun barked three times - the noise deafeningly loud in the room, and Hershey dove to the side, rolling away, as the officer dropped, blood pooling around him.

_'Armour piercing rounds?'_ Hershey thought. _'Where did she get those?'_ The black-furred cat dismissed her question, and fired her stun-gun again.  
Sally felt the dart stick into her hip, and turned to look at Hershey. She tried to pull the trigger again, but her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed also. The gun bucked once more, an involuntary muscle spasm, and the round pinged off the ceiling. Hershey hissed in pain as it glanced off her shoulder armour at an angle, sure it would leave a bruise.

A motion from her and another one of the officers started to apply cuffs to the princess' wrists and shins. As her squad completed the binding of the pair, she put one finger to the comm on her ear, triggering it with a slight pressure to the drum. "We've got 'em, Geoff. You're good to go."  
"Thanks, I'll see you back at the palace, then we can get some proper food."  
"Copy that, dear."

* * *

Geoffrey's plan was simpler than his wife's. Compact but powerful explosive charges shattered the hinges on the side-door to the warehouse, an assault trooper wearing incredibly bulky but effective combat armour kicked the door down and stormed into the darkness, vision amplifier playing about the large room. He pressed his comm-link three times: No targets, stay alert. The other four soldiers followed him in, compression soles built into the boots of the night gear silencing their footsteps to almost nothing.

This was what the Secret police were for – they did things quick and simple, efficiently. Targets were neutralised one way or another and the whole operation finished within a few minutes. The four normal soldiers activated low-light optics on their helmets. They weren't as effective as the vision-enhancer the lead was carrying, but cheaper and easier to produce.  
The bulkiest armour moved forward, quad-barrelled tranquilizer gun playing over every piece of cover available. All the guns were loaded with tranquilizer darts – they had been told to neutralise the targets and bring them in for questioning. Each dart could take a Mobian out for the count in about three seconds, five if the target had a strong metabolism.  
Totally ineffectual against metal, let alone Megatal.

The man inside the suit started, his vision turning black, and the gun spat a stream of rounds at the new target. It was giving off a heat signature, so he could shoot at it. He was answered by the sounds of the needles shattering against an armoured target, then something lunged out of the darkness and slammed into his head. The suit staggered, servos whining trying and failing to cope with the force of the blow, but in moments the man was on the floor, cut off from the outside world by a concentrated burst of EMP shutting his suit down entirely.

The rest of the squad closed in on each other, backs together and guns pointing out.

"Command, there is something in here. Can't confirm what it is, but it is certainly armoured. Stay outside, but please advise." One of them whispered into his communicator. Geoff's voice echoed back.  
"Switch to lethal weaponry. The king will not mind too much if we show him the bodies rather than letting them escape."  
"Roger that."

Several clicks and whirs echoed in the darkness, as the suits' guns switched to firing bullets. That was when four three-digit claws dropped down from the ceiling, and grabbed each by the throat. One of them looked up, and saw three blue lights shining brightly on the ceiling, then the claws tightened their grip. From each was a click and a liquid pop as windpipes were crushed, suffocating the four into unconsciousness. One fought against it, fought to stay standing, rewarded as the claw tightened completely, and broke his neck. The claws lowered the bodies gently to the floor before retracting rapidly back to their owner.

Geoffrey remained clueless, and when silence echoed from the doorway, took a deep breath and entered himself, rifle braced for firing. His glasses, really high-spec optics and Heads-up-display, illuminated the room as if it were day. The first thing he saw was the bodies of his men, all but one very much alive. The assault suit was writing and bucking on the floor as the man inside struggled to get out.

Miles stepped into view, hands held up peacefully. "You should know to knock first. This really isn't a good time."  
He skunk's hands tensed around the gun in his hand. This was one of the adepts he had been looking for. Miles spoke again.  
"You aren't that polite, either. Don't even call in advance…men with guns storming my workshop, really, just when I was getting things together. You really don't have much of a taste for this, do you? Hold him, Emerl."

The four claws appeared again, this time from behind Geoffrey. One locked around each limb, and he was lifted off the ground. The assault rifle fired wildly, but only succeeded in damaging the wall. The skunk looked over his shoulder, and saw a neutral, round head, made of black metal, with a white plate covering the mouth and nose area. A pair of blue optic sensors glared at him, as did a third one, situated at the base of a three-pronged gold crest. He couldn't see any lower than that, but he could hear the sound of small engines, and felt himself get lifted even higher.  
"Now, I want answers. What are you and your little band of soldiers doing here? Now, you can tell me, or I will have Emerl here make you tell me, and trust me, that will be far more painful. I don't wish to hurt you, I know it will only make things worse for my kind, but I require your assistance with this."

Geoffrey began to sweat, fear gripping him in an icy talon.

"We received a tip-off that a pair of Adepts lived here, and they had been joined by two sympathizers. One of them resembled the description we had been given off the missing princess, so we moved out, to rescue her and bring in the sympathizer and the Adepts."  
"Well, the hedgehog isn't here, and neither are our friends, and it's unlikely that you'll find them."  
"We... we already have the princess and the vixen."  
The grip of the claws tightened, and Geoffrey felt a sharp object press against his back, with another being held to his throat.

"What?" The smugness was gone now, Miles' tails sharpening, and energy flaring up around his hands. "How?"  
"The vixen... myself and my wife raised her after her parents' deaths."  
"And you let this happen anyway!?"  
The blades at Geoffrey's back and throat began to hum, and the claws grew still tighter.

"I had no choice! I would be executed myself, and they'd still find her! The king has ordered a sweep of the city! It was only through the tip-off that we got here so quickly! Pleas, I didn't want to do this, and I... I just don't want Hershey to die..."  
"What's the king planning?" Miles' tone was softer now, but still threatening.  
"He has this scheme, to make Chaos Adept hunters, by empowering normal Mobians. He wants to make his daughter their leader!"  
"She's come to hate him. She'll never follow his orders. He's going to get himself killed."  
"Except she's going to be brainwashed into serving, and married off to the King of Chun-Nan."

Miles stopped, mulling over an idea in his head. He then looked at Geoffrey.  
"I won't kill you, provided you do something for me."  
"And what's that?"  
"Turn yourself away from the king. His rule will be over by the week's end. Go to my mother, Councillor Rosemary. Tell her what you told me, and everything else you have that will help to topple Max. And if you betray us, well, either myself or Emerl will find you, and _will_ kill you. Your wife will be spared if the king still falls. Do we have a deal?"

For a moment, Geoffrey remained motionless, teeth gritted in pain against the claws tightening around him. As he watched, the protective sheaths around them began to fold back, revealing polished blades. He nodded frantically.  
"Good." Miles smiled humourlessly. "Oh, and take your wife with you. If she stays alongside the king in this, I can't guarantee her safety."

* * *

Sonic returned shortly after Geoffrey left, Emerl aiding him in loading his assault team into the back of the van. Miles had asked for one final request. "Oh, and if there's any other sympathizers, again, make sure their out of harm's way. King Max has just made a potentially fatal mistake, and anyone who gets in the way will pay dearly for this."

The whining shout of chaos control heralded the hedgehog's return, dropping out from his latest sprint round the desert. He panicked as he saw the blast marks and broken door, but a hand on his shoulder, and Miles in his sense told him that whatever had happened, they had won.

"We've got a problem." _Or not._  
"What now? We gotta go?" Sonic sighed, going through the regular motion of leaving a place yet again.  
"No, we're going after Sally, and Fiona." The worry in his friend's voice set Sonic on edge.  
"What happened?" He was starting to have difficulty keeping his voice level.  
"Max happened." Miles dropped his hand and began to pace. "They got tipped off by someone – an attack mounted on our home and Fiona's. They've got Sal and Fi, and Max wants to turn them into anti-adept weapons by forcing power into them."  
"The hell! You can't create an adept!" Even Sonic knew that it wasn't something you did.  
"That's what I'm afraid of, Sonic. The normal Mobian body isn't built to withstand the forces chaos energy impresses upon it. He may have found a way, or there might be something special about those two, but if he's got it wrong they won't survive the procedure. We're going after them, and this time I don't give a shit about being seen, because of this."

Miles snapped his fingers, and something detached itself from the ceiling, falling to the floor with a loud crack. "This," Miles explained, "Is Emerl."

* * *

Within a room inside one of the palace towers, Max's guest reclined on his bed. He was smiling- this meeting was proving to be fruitful. He was not only getting to form an alliance with the Acorn Kingdom, but the princess was to become his bride once she was found.  
He was Ken Khan, King of Chun-Nan, a brown-furred monkey, clad in the red, formal attire of his homeland. A golden coronet encircled his head, and his weapon of choice, a staff with which he could create and command bolts of lightning, rested on a table nearby.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, and he walked over to open it. He found himself eye-to-eye with Nicole. The lynx was pale, and looked worried.  
"She has been found." She stated sadly, her voice barely a whisper. "You will be introduced to her at dinner." Ken smiled - he was looking forward to this event, but something about Nicole's attitude was bothering him. For someone whom he had been told was completely loyal to Max, she was remarkably unhappy about his goals being achieved.

"Thank-you for telling me, Nicole." With that, he shut the door. He saw no need to treat the lynx with any respect - she was just a computer, and not a Mobian.  
Nicole sighed sadly, and flickered away, reappearing in the lab.  
Sally and Fiona were strapped down on tables, with strange apparatus above them. it consisted of a pair of beam projectors, attached to a glass cylinder, which contained two stones, which were nigh-identical. Two sides of each looked like they were designed to lock together, one pair being jagged, and the other smooth. Each emitted a yellow glow, and sparked violently. Sally was still unconscious, but Fiona was wide awake and struggling against her bonds, and yelling obscenities at the lab techs.

As the AI appeared, her struggles slowed, her eyes fixing on the hologram. "You. Figures."  
Nicole busied herself with inspecting the data screens and making minor adjustments to the machinery , not looking towards the vixen as she replied.  
"Would you believe that I'm the only reason you're alive?" she asked, unhappiness evident in her voice.  
"What?"  
"Sally was always going to be a part of this, per her father's wishes. It was always going to happen…they planned to execute you, but I noticed that you were also eligible for this procedure. Be thankful for that."  
"Thankful?" Fiona screeched, "I have no idea what the _fuck_ you're about to do to me, and I should be _thankful?_"  
"I expect you should be. This procedure hasn't been tested before, but it's less likely to kill you than the firing squad is. I'm giving you this chance at staying alive. Maybe your adept friends will save you. They can't if you're a corpse."

This strange confession dissipated some of the anger Fiona felt towards the AI. When she next spoke, she was curious more than before.  
"Why? You were built to serve the king."  
Nicole turned to face her, and the vixen saw sadness, plain and simple. "That's what everyone thought. Would you believe that sixty percent of me is drawn directly from my Mobian life? I was one of you once, but the king had other plans. He kept much of my memory for the sake of keeping Sally oblivious to everything. Very little of me is actually designed, as you see me now." The hologram briefly glanced at Sally, still sleeping on the operating slab.  
"Hold on – you have loyalty programs that slave you to the king's service. I wouldn't think you can talk about this sort of thing."

This time, Nicole smiled. "He never said I couldn't talk to you. He didn't put any parameters on what I could say. Besides…I am bound to him through those means, but I don't think anyone said I had to like it. Please wait a moment, I'm being summoned."

Nicole flickered out once more, appearing as asked in the king's throne room. His eyes were concentrating when he gave her his command. "There is fighting in the gardens; three adversaries, two of them chaos adepts and one of unknown origin are attacking the palace. Geoffrey has not returned. They are the adepts who abducted Sally." Nicole grimaced at his twisting of words. "Are we ready to begin the procedure?"

"The stones are sensing their connection to each other, but some of the machinery is still calibrating itself. I am not needed to tend to them for now. A few minutes and you will be able to begin." She reported, hiding the pain in her voice.  
His smile chilled her. "Good, then you are not needed in the laboratory. I will go and finish the procedure myself, and you will make sure these intruders do not make it through the gates. Is that clear, Nicole?"  
"Yes…yes." Another flicker, another brief struggle.  
"Then go." The king had not noticed it.  
The hologram of Nicole disappeared, integrating herself into the automated palace defenses.


	8. Chapter 8

For once, Miles really didn't care whether or not they were seen. Until now, the king had only attacked adepts, and since most of them had gone into hiding, they had mostly just chased he and Sonic over the country. It had only been them in trouble. Then the king had made quite a substantial error in his judgement. He planned to use Fiona and Sally as part of this new anti-adept campaign.  
Big mistake.

The night to mask their approach, the trio made their way through the palace gardens. Three guards dead already, when they had attempted to stop the three getting access.  
Emerl had point, his optics outmatching the natural Mobian night vision, his heavy footsteps silenced by the grass. There would be fighting, and lots of it, but there was no point in mindlessly butchering their way up the front path, if this way would be faster.

As they approached the door, two more guards opened fire on the group. Sonic curled up, spinning through the air, with bullets ricocheting off his quills. He unrolled, slammed into the gut of the guard, a Mobian frog, and launched him into the wall, knocking him unconscious.  
Miles charged forward, one tail rose to shield him against the gunfire, the other hardening, but staying blunt. He then swung it into the guard's- this one a beetle- head, flooring him. He looked over at Emerl, his face showing a hint of anxiety.

"Try to avoid killing as many of them as possible. If our operation here is successful, we won't need to worry about revenge, only about punishment for the murders. If we fail, we're dead anyway."  
Emerl nodded, then turned to the door, which was made of ancient mahogany wood. He held out his hand, and fired a Chaos Spear, ripping a huge hole in the door and lighting it on fire, as well as melting its way through the portcullis behind, and melting two automated turrets to slag as they turned to face the explosion, before dissipating.

Emerl sprinted round a junction in the corridors, and was blasted from his feet by the combined power of six different wall-turrets, each sporting dual-miniguns. The robot was picked up and slammed against the opposite wall, dragging himself out of the line of fire to inspect the damage. Despite his shell being made of the strongest metal on the planet, his display was informing him of several minor fractures from weight of fire alone. Though he could not voice his concern, his glance towards the adepts was enough for Miles.

The fox expanded his consciousness a fraction, probing the space around them for something, anything. He found it, manipulating one of his namesakes to rip the panel from the wall and exposing an emergency computer terminal. The robot understood the thought and punched his hand through the screen, interfacing with the computer systems, and by extension Nicole, in the most unorthodox of ways. His perceptions were snatched away as he joined with the palace for brief moments, his digital self swiftly disabling the turret mainframe for the corridor. He wasn't a hacker, he just shot them in the data-space, then, back to the corridor.

"Emerl, when you were in, did you get a map?" Miles asked. Emerl nodded. "Well, can you try and get rid of the turret systems along the path to the lab?" Another nod, and Emerl jacked himself into the terminal again. After a few seconds, he was thrown back from it, and the terminal sparked violently.

Emerl glared at it, and Miles looked at the terminal.  
"It's been destroyed from the core. No way to use it now. The AI's going to be watching us, so we can't use any of them anymore." He said, looking at it. "You have to take out the core itself."  
Emerl nodded, but Sonic, whom was already on edge, objected.  
"We can't. There's no time to deal with the turrets and save the girls, and Emerl's the only one that knows where to find the lab." He pointed out. Miles responded by pulling a small, circular device from his pocket, and handing it to Emerl.

"Copy the map onto that." He ordered. Another nod, and Sonic spoke up again.  
"We've got company, guys." He called. Miles and Emerl looked up, and saw Nicole's hologram hovering in front of them. Instantly, her body solidified, and she looked at them sadly.  
"I apologize for what I must do."

She just sounded upset about it, but something about the way she said it, something about what she implied, set Emerl off. He was moving even before the beam of light crystallised in her hand, interposing himself between her and the adepts before it fired. The robot shuddered under the impact, forced to his knees by the blow. His armour held firm, blackening under the forces ripping through him, countered by his chaos drive.

He waved one hand behind him, motioning for Miles and Sonic to continue without him, then turned his attention back to Nicole. His radar confirmed the adepts moving away, and then he fought back. Now the immediate danger was past, he rolled to the side, cooling systems kicking in to soften the damage done to his chestplate, chaos energy flowing to the projectors built into his palms.  
As a robot, Emerl couldn't synthesize and naturally direct chaos energy. They had to be directed, and these projectors did just that. A bolt of emerald power lanced from his hand, clashing in the air with Nicole's light-beam, the two attacks meeting in stalemate, before both combatants broke off their assault to conserve energy.

Suddenly, a beam thudded into Emerl's back pitching him onto his face. He struggled against it, pushing up with his arms and legs, as servos strained the force of the attack. He rocked back, shifting his weight onto his knees, and spread his arms. Energy flared up in his palms again, and a glowing green shield interrupted the beam, allowing him to stand up.

Nicole narrowed her eyes, and formed two more orbs of light, holding her hands together, and unleashed a full power beam.

Emerl was thrown back, the beam pushing against his shield, turning his defence into a giant hamster ball. The shield was pushed through something intangible: A second Nicole hologram, evidently the source of beam that had hit him in the back.  
"Who are you?" the hologram inquired, solidifying momentarily to strike him in the side of the head with one hand. No strike from an arm that slender should have been able to do any damage to him, but it wasn't a normal arm. It was light solidified, and there was a lot of energy in light. The strike spun him, breaking his contact with the shield. It came down abruptly, a well-timed blast of further light tossing him down the corridor, the holograms phasing out and reappearing in front of him.

"You're trying to save Sally." She told him, delivering a kick to his face that knocked him backwards. "Then I'm sorry I have to do this. But…" one hologram was monologuing as the other picked him up and slammed him into the wall, "At least I can't focus on both of you. That's something, at least."  
Emerl forced himself back to his knees, his hand closing around the fist of one of the holograms, the other punching across the cheek to stagger the AI.

The hologram that Emerl was fighting disappeared, and the other swung a vicious haymaker, knocking him into the wall. He slid down to the floor, and started running through the situation in his processor.

_[My attacks are only staggering to her: Her maybe being made of light means that there's nothing inside to damage. Perhaps light itself, like those lasers, will work, or at least damage those constructs beyond use.]_

Emerl's third optic glowed brighter than usual, and he stood up, facing the Nicole construct. He stretched his hands forward, and fired twin lasers, just like Nicole's own, directly at her. The AI was visibly surprised by this turn of events, and failed to block it. The beams scored a direct hit, though the effect wasn't exactly what Emerl had anticipated. From where the twin lances of light struck, ripples played out over the hard-light hologram, and parts of her came apart, shattering like glass and disappearing into the air. The hologram hit the floor hard.

It was only a temporary reprieve. Pieces, shards began to form in the air, fitting themselves into place, repairing the broken hologram. He didn't have long.  
_[Running in-depth analysis…]_  
_[Target capable of advanced repair.]_  
_[Target primary: Negative.]_  
_[Target alias: Positive.]_  
_[Summary: Incorrect target. Correct target not present. Damage dealt, insubstantial. Destroy source.]_

So that was it. He was fighting Nicole, but not properly. This was just an alias, a clone, that could be rebuilt time and time again. Fighting this way would accomplish nothing – he had to strike at the heart, he had to strike at the core.  
Good news then, that he had picked up that map.  
The hologram was almost fully reconstructed. It was now or never, Emerl.  
He spun, the jets on his back igniting loudly, blue flame rushing from the cones. They launched him down the corridor, away from the hologram, but towards a greater fight.

* * *

Sonic and Miles, meanwhile, were midway through the corridors, and Miles anxiety about the situation was worsening, mainly because for once, he was not in control of the situation. In fact, their journey mostly rested in Sonic's hands. At the moment, the hedgehog had a firm grip on his friend's wrist, and was pulling him along, simply because it was much faster than Miles flying alongside his friend.

Chaos Control was impossible in here - within the labyrinthine warren of corridors, they were highly likely to rematerialize inside a wall - teleportation was not as an exact an art as it looked, and this was why the workshop was so spacious- to prevent Sonic from merging himself with the furniture. They also had an area they used for chaos control. There it was planned. Sonic didn't know the layout and Miles wasn't sure how much of the place didn't match the blueprints.

At each junction in the corridors they stopped, Miles stretching out his consciousness to feel for the path of the pair of Mobians they were tracking. He shouldn't have been able to, he didn't understand it, but something in them, something made them burn as bright as any chaos adept. The fox pointed, and once again they were sprinting down the corridors.

Sonic found the whole situation grimly ironic. Figures that the first girl he actually makes any proper progress with would have a psychotic father, and it was just dandy that that father was about to turn that girl into a weapon with which to destroy him.  
Bloody typical.  
Not this time.

* * *

The doorway splintered, plastic and metal cracking like wood, before blowing out into the massive chamber. Emerl flew through the falling shrapnel, examining the room before him.  
It was big, and very, very technical.  
Thick, black wires covered every available surface, trailing into ports in the walls. Banks of terminals displaying incomprehensible lists of information lined the walls themselves, the whole room humming with unseen activity. From the ceiling a giant morass of cables and wiring snaked down, splaying out, some plugging into floor-ports, others splitting into smaller clusters, plugged into a construction in the centre of the room.

Emerl looked closer – it wasn't all it seemed. It looked like a bed, a shaped bed for a single occupant, and the wires…the wires didn't plug into the construction, they plugged directly into that occupant, twitching and writhing in a semi-comatose state. Heavily augmented, replaced, modified…Nicole. He had found her.

That was when he looked up slightly, and saw a single green optic glaring it him. A heavy claw clamped tightly around his midriff, and hurled him away. Hatches around the room popped open, and powerful looking laser weapons pointed out. All of them fired, the beams resembling the ones the holograms had themselves used on him earlier.

Emerl activated all four of his engines again, flying up and away from the deadly beams. Despite the strength of his shell, getting hit by all of those was a death sentence. He started running through ideas in his head, trying to find a way to end this quickly. No such way was coming to him.

_[Not destroying the unit will prevent me from achieving my primary directive. Destroying the target will violate the three laws of robotics. Added, my opponent's actions earlier suggest that she is unwilling... Disabling the systems does not necessarily mean killing her, just disconnecting her from that mass of cables.]_

More hatches opened, and several missiles slashed from their batteries, streaking towards Emerl. He wheeled around in the air, and flew straight towards the mass of cables. With any luck, he could badly damage the conduits by leading the missiles into them. However, as he did so, the missiles detonated themselves.

The robot stopped, surveying the area, and looking for an area to target. The cables were at their least dense where they went into the pod, but diving in that close could mean that the resulting explosion hurt the real Nicole, not to mention that the cables themselves were thicker. He'd have to aim higher, and simply cut through more cables.

A laser lanced out from one of the beam turrets, and winged his shoulder, sending him spinning out of control, and a missile hit him in the gut, throwing him into a wall. Another turret, right next to him, aimed itself at his head, but he raised his hand, and fired a spear of energy into it, destroying it. This was good, he was getting somewhere.

That was when he noticed that Nicole's body was held as if wracked with a pain so great that it was indescribable.

_[Scrap. Damaging these turrets hurts her as well. I'm running out of options.]_

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to stop them." Emerl twisted his head, the Nicole hologram shimmering up next to him. "I know what you're trying to do, but perhaps…perhaps its best that you do kill me. One of us will not come out of this, I expect." She pivoted in the air, the back of her foot connected with the robot's head and slamming him into the remains of the turret. He felt shrapnel fly into the intake, and quite suddenly the jets cut out, and he dropped to the floor.

He landed hard, crushing the toughened rubber shell of one of the cables, Nicole descending slowly to him. "Everything you see, every part of the palace is linked into my subconscious. I hurt as much as it does." She lifted him by his throat, casually tossing him across the room into the path of another beam.  
This time, his weakened armour gave out against the force of the strike, and an amber warning flashed on his display, warning that his rocket projector was compromised. He dismissed the warning and put his arms out to brace against his landing.

A moment's inspiration struck him and he fired his claws out, each one fastening around a length of steel cabling hanging from the roof. Abruptly he stopped in the air, hanging like some immense, metal spider. Maybe he couldn't fly, but he still hadn't played every single card. He extended his arm, sending out chaos spears to intercept the beams of light playing around him. Some hit their mark, some didn't.

A bright flash crossed his vision, slicing through one of his claws holding him up, and he lurched in the air with the connection severed.  
"You're fighting wonderfully, but you have the palace against you. You're at the core of everything, so I'm not sure what you can do." Nicole spoke, from in front of him, then plunged her hand into his chestplate. Intangible at first, the hologram passed easily through the nigh-impenetrable armour, then with a shudder it solidified.

He felt her hand inside his chest, gripping something tightly in her hand. The lynx was looking at it as if she had no idea what she was doing.  
"I'm…I'm holding your chaos drive. I know that it is your primary source of power. It gives you emotion. It gives you individuality. I think…I think I'm about to crush it."  
A spasm, a powerful surge of energy rushed through Emerl as the AI closed her hand on the fragile chaos drive, and the containment field failed.

Chaos is, by its very nature, unpredictable. When Sonic and Miles used it to power Emerl, it created illogic with his circuits, and gave him emotion. He could think. He could learn, because he wasn't entirely artificial. Chaos powered him, and chaos became him. When Nicole crushed the containment field around the chaos drive, her systems acted automatically to try and codify and interpret it robotically. Chaos cannot be interpreted by a logical system.

The result was one of the most unpredictable, virulent and overall dangerous viruses that could ever exist. It exploded like a bomb in Nicole's systems, shattering coding that wasn't built to withstand such an assault, breaking down the barriers and protocols of the palace itself.  
Including the loyalty programs holding Nicole in service to the king.

She felt them go, and the construct she was using to destroy Emerl winked out of existence, Nicole, the real Nicole, realising what was going on and doing exactly as a computer did in these situations.  
It backed itself up.  
And the only viable place for that, was back into Nicole's ravaged form.  
The prone form of the lynx jerked violently awake, and she sat up, pulling the tubes and wires from herself. With each one she felt her perceptions lessen, until it was only her, trapped in this half-organic form.

Emerl dropped down next to her, battered and depleted, and gave a witty salute before his systems cut out, shutting down to avoid further damage.  
Nicole stared at him for a moment, through two different eyes. He had just saved her life.

* * *

At the same time, Sonic rounded another turn, and found four guards, already firing at him and Miles. At the same time, Miles ripped his arm out of Sonic's grip, and started to rush towards the guards, using his powers to levitate, he covered the distance swiftly, slamming into the Mobian and ripping a gash down his midriff. The wound was not deep, the man so protected as he was by armour, but it was enough to send him into unconsciousness.

Gunfire echoed across the room, and a bullet ripped through Miles' shoulder. He stumbled, gritting his teeth and wincing in pain, as the guard, this one a parrot, took aim at his head. Miles raised his hand, and hurled a weak Chaos Spear forward, enough to knock the parrot out, but not badly injure him.

Miles focused on his wounded shoulder, and gradually, the flesh began to heal, glowing with yellow light, and the bullet was pushed out. He looked up, and saw Sonic slamming the fourth guard into a wall, with the third already out cold.

"Come on." He said, approaching the entrance to the lab. Miles nodded, and joined him, and started inspecting the door.

"We're going to need to Chaos Spear this thing."  
"Right."

The two Adepts raised their hands, and unleashed twin crimson lightning bolts of chaos energy, which buckled the door and blew it off its hinges. Sonic was already moving as it exploded, and Miles followed. Inside, they saw Sally and Fiona strapped to the tables, and the apparatus above them. Four poles had extended from the bulk of it to surround the twin lasers. The poles began to rotate, purple energy surrounding them. The glow the two stones inside the machine were emitting was growing ever brighter, and the two lasers built up orbs at their tips, preparing to fire at the two girls.

Fiona turned her head to look at the two Adepts, and her eyes widened in both surprise and terror.  
She opened her mouth to speak.  
"Tails-" the rest was snatched away by an energy beam, the room disappearing into light and sound.


	9. Chapter 9

The impact of the chaos spear coincided with the connection of the two stones, and the results were catastrophic. Each instrument had been carefully tuned by Nicole and then by natural means, and each cable and fixture had its purpose, none of which that could be done without.  
The machine was not designed to withstand any sort of serious impact.  
Sonic's chaos spear ripped through the light aluminium shell as the two stones powering the contraption released their charge, down through the wiring and cabling and into the pair of Mobian subjects. This power ran unchecked, the fragile processors designed to harness and direct it shattered by the blast of energy, down the pipes and wires, directly into the genetic coding of both Sally Acorn and Fiona Fox.

Sally felt a mild sting, but a warm, relaxing feeling washed through her. She felt calm and serene, no need to fight held her. Fear was gone from her mind, as was all of her anger. Her body was overtaken by a blue glow, and within her, something altered, the energy forming a shield around her, so close that it practically merged with her skin.

Fiona, meanwhile, was suffering from her change. It hurt, fiery pain shooting through every part of her, as her body and eyes glowed red. More and more layers of intellect and caution were stripped away, until all that remained was instinct and anger. She strained against her bonds, and ripped them away without much trouble. While Sally had undergone a form of elevation, becoming more than she was, Fiona had been stripped down to her base, her primal instinct and feral hunger of a mindless predator, and then they had added chaos powers.

_Pain. Hurt. Anger. Source._  
Her eyes flickered over those assembled.  
_Squirrel-girl. Waste. Hedgehog. Fast. Fox. Good Hunter. Protect._  
She settled on Max, as the king realised that something had gone disastrously wrong with the procedure. He was making for the door.  
_Squirrel. Leader. Caused pain. Caused hurt. Prey. Kill._  
She bounded after him, claws and chaos-enhanced muscles powering her towards the fleeing king.

"Nicole, stop her!" Max yelled, heading towards the door. No response. "Nicole, that's an order!" Still nothing. "Nicole?"

Max stopped to open the door himself, since Nicole was clearly not responding, something which was going to cost him. Fiona let out a sadistic grin, and lashed out at the aged squirrel's gut, hoping to disembowel him. The four, knife-like talons dug into Max, but the squirrel had managed to turn, with the slash hitting his side instead.

He screamed, but still turned the key, and pulled the door open. Fiona went for another slash, but Max lifted his fist into her midriff, knocking the wind out of her, and proceeded to kick her away. He stepped through the door, and slammed it shut, locking it.

Fiona was still reeling from the attacks, as Miles approached her nervously.

"Fiona? Are you OK?" His voice was calm, and placating, but Fiona's anger was still building.  
_The attacks hurt. Everything hurt. No prey. Need outlet. Hedgehog and squirrel. Not important._  
_Outlet._  
She stood, and a small orb of energy formed in her palm, which she then pitched at Sonic, who was heading towards Sally.

The squirrel girl was still lying on the table, a look of contentment on her face. She saw no need to struggle. She wasn't in any danger, so there was no need. Slowly she raised her head, looking around the room. Fiona, enraged, Miles trying to stop her, Sonic.  
_Sonic._  
Sally grunted as a memory flashed through her. _Was that it? A memory?_  
She saw the orb sailing through the air towards Sonic, and she reacted. She wouldn't allow harm.  
The squirrel started to vibrate, slowly at first, speeding up until the whole table was creaking and groaning violently. She reached the right frequency, and for a brief moment, the leather bonds which held here were intangible, her own body vibrating at the right frequency so as to pass through them. She slid off the plinth, everything about her moving at a crawl.

Sonic saw this. He paused. He hesitated. It cost him. The orb hit him in his side, and exploded. The force unleashed threw him sideways, heat burning his fur and searing his skin. Pain flared all over him as nerves burnt out, sailing through the air. His chaos-enhanced body was already beginning to repair the damage, but that moment of hesitation had cost him the fight. He crashed into a mass of cabling snaking down the walls, entangling himself within the dark braids.

Fiona started running towards Sonic, energy crackling around her hands, as she charged up another energy blast, until Sally stepped in her path. The vixen crashed into her, moving at full pelt, but she didn't move an inch.

"Stop." Sally ordered. "This fighting is pointless. There is no need for you to attack."  
"Need... to kill... some... any... one..." Fiona's speech was slow, and she tried to slash at Sally, but her claws didn't leave a mark. The mixing energies, however, exploded, throwing Fiona back, but only sending Sally skidding back over the floor.

Miles levitated over to Sonic, and cut through the cables, freeing his friend.

"What the hell happened to them?" He groaned.  
"I think when Max tried to empower them, your spear broke the machine, and transferred all of the positive energy into Sally, and all of the negative into Fiona. The negative is raw and destructive, and the positive allows speed similar to yours and nigh-impenetrable defences. As such, Sally's the immovable object, and Fiona the unstoppable force. The energy is dominating their personalities, and that's why Fiona is mindlessly attacking you two- she's been consumed by rage."

Sonic mulled this over, then nodded.  
"And how come she's not attacking you?"  
"She's at least as smart as a Feral. She probably recognises that I'm her 'mate'."  
"And how do we stop her, and fix Sally as well? Bring 'em back to normal."  
"Removing the powers will probably kill them, so we have to balance them, like originally intended. Thing is, we don't have a great deal of time. I'm not entirely sure how they are even managing to cope with that energy within them, but the imbalance is already starting to take its toll. We don't do this quickly, and they will die."

"Anything ya want me to do?" the hedgehog struggled to stand, still a cocksure grin on his face.  
"You're out for the count – Fiona saw to that. Let me deal with this." Miles patted his friend on the back, then ran off towards the two embattled Mobian women.  
Sally was merely standing there, watching Fiona cast bolts of lightning and energy towards her, only for them to shatter off an energy shield. She didn't retaliate – she didn't know how. Her mind could no longer comprehend the concept of attacking.

_Sally's pacifistic state should make it easy to set her up, but Fiona's going to be tougher, unless I can appeal to her in some other way._

Fiona clawed at Sally again, and the clashing energies exploded again. Miles strained himself against the force of the blast, and continued his approach. He had to stop Fiona from attacking so that he could close the gap. Fortunately, the vixen was now slumped forward, panting for breath. Evidently stamina was not her strong point either.

Sally looked up at Miles as he drew near, but her face betrayed no emotion. Fiona too looked up, and her expression of hatred faded slightly. He raised his hands in a placating manner, and smiled weakly.

"Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you. I'm going to bring you two back to your normal mind-sets. It'll sting a bit, but trust me, this will hurt me a lot more."  
Energy flared up in his palms, and he reached for both girl's shoulders. Fiona's primitive mind flinched away from the power, not understanding what was going on, but as she caught Sally's expression, alpha-instinct kicked in, the natural wish to appear stronger for your mate. She wouldn't let herself get beaten.

"Then I'm not letting you." Sally told him in a voice that was eerily calm.  
He snapped back, "the alternative is you two dying. Your bodies aren't meant to cope with this sort of energy to begin with, and I don't know how it is now. Achieving pure balance is the only way that's going to stop both of you burning out under the stress."

Fiona lashed out at Sally again, desperately wanting to prove herself, and Miles seized his chance, gripping her wrist before her talons could make contact with Sally. She looked at him, confusion appearing etched onto her face. Why did he want her to stop? She was doing this for him!

"Sally, give me your hand." He ordered. Warily, the squirrel princess reached her hand out, and he grabbed her wrist too. "Sorry about this."  
He called on his powers, and began to carefully wrench the energy from their bodies. All three were hit by intense, searing pain, and the glow around the two girls drew towards one another.  
Miles worked feverishly, within their minds to right them – both of their true selves were held back by tides of chaos energy spinning in the ether, but to him it appeared quite simple. It was like a set of scales – shift the amounts around a bit and you could achieve the balance.  
But this is the mind we are talking about. With each move, each change he made, there was the ever-present danger that he might nudge their thoughts, their memories or their personalities, or worse, their subconscious. To cause even the slightest disruption within any of these key areas could dissolve their mind completely, leaving them with either a raging psychopath or a mindless zombie.

The flow of energy halted, and the red and blue mixed into a deep purple again. Miles looked at the orb floating in front of his face. This was the cornerstone of it all.

"Tails, did it work?" Sonic called from behind him.  
"I've extracted the energy, but I need to distribute it evenly, or they'll die. Their bodies won't be able to take being empowered and depowered in such a short space of time!"  
"So, we can change them back to normal completely in future?"  
"I'll explain later!"

The orb stretched out into an ellipse, and then split into two, identical orbs. Both lowered themselves to chest level, and plunged into the girls. Both spasmed violently with yet another influx of energy so soon after the first, their minds sifting dangerously fast to compensate for the damage. Miles watched as their personalities began to resurface, emotion and thought dragged up to fill the void. Sparks, thin arcs of lightning burst from them to the ground and back.

With a twist and a wrench, Fiona broke free with a roar, staggering away alone, leaving Miles to reach after her, but unable to move for fear of the damage he may cause Sally if he were to do so. There wasn't anything he could do for Fiona for the time being – she had to come through it herself now.

The violent fountains of sparks were dying down by now, the torrent of energy fading into the ether as the balanced form settled itself within both of them, and both collapsed. Miles fell to his knees, all the energy that had been expended in charging the Chaos Drive and then balancing his friends leaving him weak.

Sonic walked over to him, and crouched beside him and Sally. The squirrel was drifting in and out of consciousness, but physically, she was unharmed. Miles, meanwhile, dragged himself over to check on Fiona, ignoring Sonic's concerns.

Fiona was out cold, but alive, and in relatively good condition. He figured that her more violent reaction was a result of the more destructive force that had possessed her.  
Sonic, meanwhile, was cradling Sally, trying to get her to wake fully. With Miles completely exhausted, he was going to need to find Emerl to have enough power to teleport all of them, but he couldn't leave the weakened trio alone.

As he reached Fiona's prone body, Miles pushed her over onto her back, examining her. Much like Sally, she appeared unharmed, and thankfully her breathing had slowed to a regular pace again. She was sleeping, or unconscious. Probably the latter consider what she had just gone through. He could feel chaos energy radiating from her, an impossible thing considering that she wasn't actually an adept…

"That's…that's all I can do for now, Sonic." He told the hedgehog over his shoulder. "They're safe…for now, at least. I…I'm not sure how long it will last. They weren't…built for this. They should have died…and I have no idea why they're still in one piece…let alone still breathing."  
"Well, let's not question it, and just be glad that they're safe."  
"Good idea."  
"So, now what?"  
"We need to regroup. St. John's official report will say that no-one was living on our hideout except for a perfectly ordinary fox. The king cannot pursue us publically, or he will expose this to everyone. Not to mention that Nicole is seemingly offline, so he won't have gotten a good look at us, or any pictures. It's safe to say we can go home and recuperate."

"Right, but how did he find out about us? I was real careful this time, honest."  
"I know. St. John said they were tipped off."  
"But by who?"  
"Whom, and it's not hard to work out. Who is the loose end in our lives? Someone who knows about our powers, but is still alive, and might have something against one of us? Someone who seems to be able to follow our every move?"  
"Amy."  
"Bingo. And next time I see her, I'm going to kill her."

By now, Miles had gotten enough of his strength back to stand up. He scooped Fiona into his arms, and Sonic did the same with Sally.  
"So, we find Emerl, and then I warp us back home?"  
"Yes. We let these two recover, I repair Emerl, and we make a new plan."

"We…might have a problem." A baritone voice rung out through the room, and the pair of adepts turned, eyes widening to see Emerl limping dragging himself across the room with…someone in tow. "I'm a bit short on power, and armour." The battered robot explained.  
"You can't talk." Miles stated bluntly.  
"Yes…I can now. Nicole repaired me. She's a nice girl when you get to know her."  
"Nic- you found her?" the fox was surprised.

"I'm right here." The other, who had remained in Emerl's shadow until then, stepped out. "And I am in a great deal of pain."  
Nicole Lynx was a wreck. Over the years most of her had been cut off and replaced with ever-increasingly complex augmetics to allow her to interface more wholly with the palace systems. One red eye watched the group, the other, a deep green Mobian eye, twitched over the lab. The patches of fur on her battered form were coarse and knotted, but there was precious little of it anyway. "This is me." She explained, to a gasp and a blink.

"Er, aren't you a computer?" Sonic asked.  
"Yes, and no. I was a bio-computer. Apparently, turning a smart girl into a cyborg and plugging her into the wall was cheaper than developing an actual AI."  
"That's sick! What kind of madman does that to a girl?"  
"The same madman who tries to turn his daughter into a super-weapon." Miles cut in. Nicole approached Sonic, and stared sadly at Sally.  
"I'm glad she isn't conscious to see me like this, but is she unharmed?"  
"Physically, yes. Mentally, we don't know until she wakes."

"That's good. All those attempts she made to escape…I wanted her to succeed, but I couldn't let her. I was tied to Max. I think I broke it." Nicole let out a long sigh of relief.  
"That's what happens when you break a chaos drive." Emerl added.  
"And you can talk now?" Miles raised an eyebrow.  
"Yes." The robot grasped a thick coil of cabling connecting he and Nicole. "Nicole's original body isn't meant to survive for long periods of time on its own, and my primary drive is currently out of commission. We plugged ourselves together, created a sort of dual-power source. She messed around with my programming and thumped the mouthpiece a bit and I should be fine, at least for now. Oh, you're going to need to fix the chaos drive."  
"Your batteries are powering each other? Impressive." Another raised eyebrow.  
"I'm smart, remember?" Nicole managed a smile, wincing with pain. "I'm also part organic, so I'm generating natural heat as fuel as well. Until then, we're enjoying a few hours of very, very strange intimacy."

Sonic and Miles smirked slightly at the joke.

"I'll try and fix up your body as best as I can, and if Fiona is able, she'll help. After all, you're Sally's friend, and you helped keep Emerl online, so you're alright with me."  
"Thank you. Now, we have to get out of here fast. The king will probably have gone to warn his visitor, which will be bad news for all of us. I'll explain why later."  
"Right. Sonic, do you think this slab is spacious enough to start a Chaos Control?"  
"It should be fine, though I'll need a bit of help." The hedgehog had to refrain from flexing his fingers, to avoid dropping the squirrel-girl in his arms.  
"Certainly. I'm probably going to pass out if I use any more energy, though, so if someone else could carry Fiona, that would be appreciated."

Nicole reached out and took Fiona without commenting, staring down at her with something akin to nostalgia. Miles knew what it was. She wanted her body back.  
The fox flicked a ring out of the air, absorbing it into his palm, giving him some measure of strength. "Alright Sonic, let's do this thing. Emerl, take my hand. I don't want to leave anyone behind."  
He waited until Emerl had done so, then placed his free hand on the hedgehog's shoulder.  
"He goes fuck all!" Sonic shouted, "Chaos control!" He needed his voice. He was too drained to do it silently, even with Miles granting him extra strength.  
It looked like the group had imploded, as the chaos control took effect, snatching them out of existence and throwing them across several miles of palace and city. They had plans to do, wounds to salve, and a king to kill.


	10. Chapter 10

Tired, half-dead and hiding from a man who wanted to see all of their kind dead, Miles was happy. Fiona was back, Sonic had Sally back, and they had freed Nicole, and that was what mattered. He could have done without the soldiers and fighting, but they were all alive, if a little shaken.  
They were more than a little shaken.  
Fiona and Sally had just survived an operation that should have killed them, he and Sonic had almost been killed trying to save them, Emerl was near-shutting down, only sustained by a link to Nicole's bionic form. Nicole shouldn't even still be alive.  
Yet here they were, and they had run out of places to go. All they could do now was get even.

Miles had, as he expected, passed out the moment they had returned, and awoke about an hour later, in his bed, with Fiona curled up next to him. Her breathing was slow, as one would expect, and, placing his fingers to her throat, Miles discovered that her pulse was regular.

Letting out a sigh of relief, petted her head briefly, and got out of bed. He changed his clothes, then headed out of his room.

"Mornin' Tails." Sonic called from the couch. Waving his hand at his friend. "You feelin' any better?"  
"Not much…" Miles complained, "but I'm alive. That's good enough for now – we've got a lot to do. You been up all night?"  
"Pretty much. Since we got back, and everyone else was pretty fucked up, figured it would be smart to have someone on watch, especially with all the problems we've got goin' on. Oh!" he started, snatching up a letter from the table and passing it over the back of the sofa. "Your friend in the police dropped this by."

Miles took the letter, noting that the hedgehog had already been through it, and read it himself.

-["Mr Prower, I think I owe you my life.  
"The king does not yet know that I have disappeared, and I gather that your work at the castle has stirred up quite a mess. In that respect he probably won't come looking for me. Both I and Hershey have escaped the palace, and I took as many of the Secret Police as it was safe to. About forty of them came with me, but it's good to know not everyone agrees with the king.  
"I don't feel very safe since I did this, but I feel better for knowing that you and your associates have escaped the king's clutches. I don't know what you plan to do, but know that we're behind you on this. Fiona knows how to contact us – if you need us, or the few men that I have, she will know how to find us. We will wait the week, after that we will be leaving Mobotropolis.  
Good luck, stay alive, make damn sure the others do too, and thank you for saving my little girl.

"Geoffrey St. John."]-

Miles felt himself smiling, and put the letter down on the coffee table.

"Good news, huh?"  
"Indeed. Now, I've got work to do. Emerl's Chaos Drive is top of the list, then making Nicole look like something other than the walking dead, and finally repairing Emerl's armour."  
"Right. If Sal wakes up before you're done with Nicole, I'll keep her away from the lab."  
"Thanks. She's got to see her some time, but I'd rather Nicole was in good condition first."

Miles turned, and walked into his lab, finding the two sitting on the table. Nicole was asleep, but Emerl was active, and seemed to be running a systems check.

"Hey boss."  
"Hello Emerl." Miles wasn't yet used to the robot talking, but the voice was easy on the ears, so he didn't mind.  
"I've found the source of the problem. One of the hits I took knocked out my self-repair unit. Fix that, and the nanobots in my body should be able to fix my injuries by themselves."  
"Good, that's a lot easier than fixing the Chaos Drive itself."  
"That's what the diagnostic says, though I'm getting it in binary. For now I switched to that secondary fusion core you installed, and running as little as I can."

Miles looked at Nicole. "And her?"  
"She's part organic, but in far better shape in terms of repair. From what I saw of her systems while we were stuck together, she isn't even meant to operate independently. You'll have to run checks yourself, but her body is pretty much broken. They didn't intend to have her ever leave the core chamber, so they never tended to her organic parts. Most of her digestive tract is missing, so I injected some nutrients into her, bought some time."  
"Let's use it, then. We've pretty much skewed any chance of getting any peace anymore, so once we've got you and the others fixed up, we need a plan. This is the endgame, for one side or another."  
"Roger that. Say, why not use your powers to heal her?"

Miles paused, running over the possible consequences in his head.

"It could work, but I'd need you to help me, and in all honesty I'm not sure what chaos healing would do to any normal body, especially one this damaged. Now hold still, I need to open up your side."  
Miles snatched up a welding torch from a nearby tray, along with a set of screws and other workshop tools.  
Using a diamond scalpel the fox prised off a small service plate on Emerl's side, the only one the robot actually had; it was used to access the self-repair systems in this exact situation, where it had been disabled. That little control system meant that as soon as that was running, the rest of the system would fix itself.

"This is going to be a hash-job." Miles warned the robot, "so your nanites will be repairing most of the damage. I didn't expect to have to be fixing you so soon."  
"I didn't expect to be staying in the same room as a cyborg, so it's an unexpected experience for the both of us." Emerl chuckled.  
"Just…hold still." With one hand Miles poked a light into the crevice, searching around for the damage. He found it almost instantly. "How did Nicole do this?"  
"The diagnostic was telling me crystallised light beams."  
"That explains it then. The casing of the system itself is still intact, but the wires had fused. I can't repair this – it'll take longer than I hoped. I'm going to have to replace it."

* * *

He spent the next half an hour painstakingly peeling every wire from their input and outputs ports with two pairs of pliers, Emerl holding the torch with his spare hand. Replacing them was more difficult – each one had to be held in place while solder was applied with a soldering iron, then plated with a thin coating of steel residue to protect it. That took almost another hour, connecting it to sixty different areas of Emerl's inner workings. The moment that was done, the robot send a quick jolt of electricity to that area of his circuitry, and work began.

"I think it worked." He informed the fox as he removed his tools and closed the access plate, "I'm seeing various displays here reporting the status of each system. It's working on my internal systems first though, so I'm going to be like this for a bit longer. If you want I'll see what I can do to Nicole's mechanical parts. I'll do work out what you can do with her organic sections."

* * *

Outside, Sonic's ear twitched slightly, as he heard another door opening, and Sally stepped out, rubbing her eyes and clutching her head.

"Sal, you're awake!" He said happily, turning to face her. "You feelin' OK?"  
"No, I feel like I got hit by a plane. But it's better than whatever my father was planning on doing with me."  
"Well…he kinda got halfway. According to Tails you're pretty much one of us now."  
"Really? Well, that's going to take some getting used to."  
"Don't worry, we'll help you handle it."  
"Right. What actually happened in there?"  
"I accidentally broke the machine he was going to use to supercharge you, but not enough to disable it. It filled you with positive energy and Fiona with negative. Tails managed to balance the power between you two, and saved you both."  
"Wow... I should go and thank him."

Sally started to walk towards the lab, but Sonic jumped up and zipped over, blocking her path.  
"Tails says you can't go down there yet."  
"Why?"  
"Er, it's heavy stuff. Come on, you'll want to sit down."  
"Okay..."

Sonic led Sally over to the couch, and sat down next to her. The squirrel had a look of worry on her face.  
"Listen, on the way in, Nicole was made to try and stop us. Tails' new robot, Emerl, distracted her while we came to get you two, and he got pretty beat up as a result. But, he found Nicole herself, the real Nicole, but she's in a bad shape. Your dad was using her as an AI, and hooked her up to the palace itself. A lot of her body, most of it in fact, has been replaced with mechanical parts, and she had to be hooked up to Emerl's secondary power supply, or her body will expire."  
"F-fuck."  
"That's pretty much what I said."

"She gonna be ok?"  
"Can't say. I'm about as clueless as the next guy on the subject. If ya ask me, Nicole's lucky to be alive, considering the shit Max put her through. Dunno how she's gonna survive for much longer, since he didn't bother doing much to keep her in good shape, but Tails is a smart guy, and he'll think of something. Fuck, if he doesn't, I'll make him think of something. Nicole's on our side, and I'll stop running the moment I give up on my friends. We'll get through this, but first I'm gonna fucking _kill_ your dad."  
Sally stared at him for a moment, but her reply by now wasn't exactly a shock. "Can I help?"

"I dunno... I mean, it's not that I don't trust you to go through with it - I do - but are you a good fighter? I mean-"  
"Yes. Despite the fact that he never intended me to go out of the castle, my father was always paranoid about the idea of his enemies getting _in_. So he had me trained in sword combat. Besides, I'm younger than him, and faster; I should be able to handle him."  
"Right. The other thing that's got me worried is your dad's guest. Nicole's going to tell us about him later, but she was scared of him yesterday, and I'm worried about what he might be capable of."  
"I'm sure you can handle it."  
"I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about _you._"

"Like I said, I can take care of myself."  
"Yea, but if she's scared of him, she knows that he'll be a match for at least one of us."  
"Not me." Sally told him confidently, "Max won't let him kill me. He still wants an heir, just not one who can think for herself."  
"I like it. Means I don't have to think so much." Sonic lay back in the seat.  
"I'm not doing the thinking for you." Sally laughed.  
"Awwww….damnit!"

Sonic joined in the laughter - the moment of levity much needed after the grimness of the previous conversation, until the door to the lab opened, and Miles stepped out, dusting off his hands. Sally immediately ran over to him, and Sonic noticed that her motion was slightly faster than normal.  
"Is she-"  
"I haven't tried anything yet. Emerl came up with an idea while I was repairing him, but it's going to be risky, and I need both him at full power, and Sonic and myself at full capacity. Sonic, go take a power nap, just in case." Miles cut in, and Sonic nodded walking away into his room.

"What's wrong with her?"  
"Well, Max never intended her to leave the core chamber. As such, she hasn't been properly fed, and her body has not been maintained. Her cybernetics are rather roughshod, but fortunately, none of the metals used are poisonous. Several of her organs have been removed, including most of her digestive tract, so she can't eat at the moment. Emerl's injecting nutrients into her to keep her organic half going, but... I'm not sure how long she'll survive... Put simply, there's too much damage done to ever fully heal. Her lifespan is going to be cut in half at best. I'm going to do everything I can to save her, but I'm not sure how long I can give her."

Tears started to roll down Sally's cheeks, and Miles wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Sally, I'm going to save her. One way or another, I'm going to save her. Mentally, she's fine, and I'm working out a plan right now. Fiona and I, with access to the materials, can build her a new body. One so lifelike you won't be able to tell the difference. We already have a spare core for Emerl that we can put her in, and that way, even if her body does die, her mind can live on. I promise you, I'm not going to let her fade away like that."

"Neither am I." all heads turned to Emerl as he walked from the door. His exterior wounds were still evident, but his stance and confidence showed that he was mostly healed internally. "But I don't think we have time to do it now. I've been using my comm to listen in on the radio networks. Max is telling the Royal guard that you have once again made off with the princess, and he's sending out a city-wide broadcast of the abduction of a state criminal, fitting Fiona's description. We're going to have the entire force breathing down or necks very soon if we don't sort things out now."

"Take a look at this, then." Miles passed him the letter. The robot inspected it, then placed it back down.  
"That isn't much. Geoffrey's secret police were a covert operation. It's something, but we won't be able to use it very effectively."  
"I know." Miles replied. "We need to deal with Max, while simultaneously proving that chaos adepts aren't going to rise up and kill everyone."

"Well, Sonic and Fiona are asleep, so we can't go immediately." Sally pointed out.  
"On top of that, Nicole's in no condition to leave just yet."  
"We can wake those two, and Sally can fill in for Sonic on this healing thing." Emerl added.  
"No, it takes years to focus oneself enough to master a Chaos Heal, and I don't want her to see Nicole in her current condition." Miles objected.

"Tails, I'll be alright." Sally reassured him. "I can boost you guys up, so you can do the healing without Sonic. As for seeing Nicole, it's got to happen at some point."  
The kitsune signed, rubbing his temples, trying to decide. "Fine." He said, after some hesitation.

Miles led the duo back into the lab, where Nicole was now lying flat on the slab. The cable that had previously linked her to Emerl now attached to the wall. Sally let out a stifled sob at the sight of her friend, and the lynx opened her eye and activated her optic sensor in response.  
"Looks pretty bad, doesn't it?" Nicole asked the princess, with a wan smile.  
Sally couldn't speak – she hadn't known the devastation done to her friend.  
"We have to do this precisely. Using chaos regeneration on a normal Mobian can be done with a lot less planning, but we're having to deal with two mediums here." Miles began to outline what was to happen. "If we're not careful with what we heal, we'll start cellular regeneration, and her organs and other removed sections will begin to grow back.

"Isn't that a good thing, though?" Sally asked, still shaking.  
"If this damage was recent, it would be fine, but the regeneration wouldn't register the robotic parts. It would just grow through them, and that's something that none of us will want to happen. That's why we need Emerl for this. Originally, Sonic and I were going to be providing the healing, while Emerl limited us to where we heal. Hopefully we can do just that. Sally, I'll be using chaos drain on you as I did earlier, so I can siphon of chaos energy as I need it. Emerl, you'll be focussing on Nicole entirely, directing the energy flow only to the parts of her that require it. After that, we can work on the robotic parts."

"Wait... what if I just channel my energy into you myself? That way it won't run the risk of knocking us both out if you need a lot."  
"No, just focus on building up energy. Fiona should be waking up soon, and if she comes in while we're doing this, she can help."  
"OK." Sally nodded, and she closed her eyes, energy building up around her until her whole body was glowing. Emerl plugged himself back into Nicole, so he could tell exactly where their efforts were needed, and Miles held his arms forward, allowing the healing energies to float from his hands into Nicole's ravaged body. Once this was started up, he shifted the orb forming in front of him to rest in the palm of one hand, and moved the other back, placing it on Sally's shoulder. Due to the quieter circumstances, and Sally being willing with a ready supply of energy, not to mention the fact that Miles wasn't actively trying to rip every last fragment of it from her, the process was nowhere near as painful. In fact, it barely registered on the physical scale.

Already, Nicole's breathing was becoming more stable and regular, indicating that her lungs were fixing themselves. One of them had collapsed, punctured by the installation of the machinery near her shoulder. As it began to inflate again, Emerl injected some of his repair nanites into her. These ones had been specially reprogrammed by the robot himself, and were currently smoothing and autotomizing the mechanical parts, consuming any unnecessary metal to give Nicole's organs as much space as possible.

Soon, her heart started working itself at full capacity again, and the nanites devoured the now-useless pacemaker. Her digestive tract was partially rebuilt, giving her at least limited room for sustenance. Any waste would be broken down into energy for her artificial sections. Fur softened and smoothed as it was revitalised, returning Nicole to something akin to normality. As the chaos regeneration finished, Miles withdrew, but Emerl stayed – he still had work to do.

Still linked to Nicole, he switched roles with his nanites, repairing and reconstructing parts of her robotics that had been phased out of use as she had been further connected to the palace itself. The nanites reconstructed various interface ports, smoothing them over and refolding the metal into stiffened armour, leaving plug-ins only on her forearms so she could still hack into systems, if she so wished.  
"Are we done?" Sally asked wearily.  
"She as healthy as I can make her." Miles replied. "Once Emerl is completely finished with her cybernetics, she can recalibrate her systems, and she'll be fine."

Sally nodded, and gently laid her hand on Nicole's.  
"We were like sisters..." She murmured sadly.  
"You _are_ like sisters. You're alive, she's alive, and you're both going to get through this. Sonic and Emerl will make sure of that. I and Fiona have to show my mother's colleagues that we're normal people. You need to be seen fighting your father. I'll outline the rest of the plan when the rest of us are conscious. Go and relax for a while. I can handle everything here, and you need to be ready for what you're about to do. Maybe you could try experimenting with your powers. The room next to this one should do the trick. I used it to test Emerl's weapons."

Sally allowed her energies to drop back to normal, and she smiled at Miles and Emerl.  
"Thank you for saving her." She said, before leaving the room. Miles allowed himself to grin, and he turned to look at Emerl.  
"I'm starting to enjoy this whole 'saving people' thing."


	11. Chapter 11

The theory was simple enough – they had to get rid of Max, making sure Sally dealt with him, and convince the council that chaos adepts were not a threat to society. That could not be put into effect without action, and that was to be the difficulty. As soon as she had been able, Nicole had introduced the king's guest, Ken. A monkey of a somewhat dubious origin, he was one hell of a fighter and shared the king's dislike for adepts. Unlike Maximillian Acorn, he was willing to use more than just steel and lead to kill them, however.

"What do you mean he can fire lightning bolts!?" Sonic exclaimed, as Nicole told them of the situation. The lynx, still somewhat weak, raised her hands in a placating manner and continued.  
"He wields a weapon called the Atom Bat. Really, it's just a stick, but some kind of energy infuses it, and it works as a lightning manipulator."  
"It's probably a Chaos-based weapon." Miles cut in, though he was less calm, probably something to do with the fact that Fiona was curled up on his lap.  
"Ironic that my father's ally would wield the very power that the two of them despise." Sally added.  
"I'd only be surprised if they were unaware." Fiona remarked. "They're always hypocrites."

"It's just as likely that Ken knows, while Max is unaware." Miles told them all. "They both hate adepts, but there's nothing saying they can't use the energy itself. Every faction has its radicals, willing to use the tools of their enemy against them."  
"Ken isn't the only thing we'll be dealing with, remember?" Fiona interjected. "We've got the entire Royal guard, and those Secret Police who didn't defect along with Geoff."  
"I've been seeing energy spikes in the palace, too." Emerl contributed, "I expect they've brought in someone to replace Nicole."  
"That will be Anima." The cyborg explained, haltingly. "She was created as a backup of my personality, but more recently I saw them begin to modify the programming. The file was on a separate circuit, so I can't tell you more than that. It'll probably be her, and she won't be as easily swayed. Computers are a lot easier to manipulate than those still living."

"Hmmm... I suggest we shut her down, and have Emerl and Nicole take over the systems. Together, they should be able to control it without having to lose their physical forms. I can join forces with my mother and take things on the political front, with Fiona's assistance, of course. I need to convince them that I am not a monster, and we can all agree that she brings out the best in me. Sonic, if you and Sally can take Max and Ken, since Sally has to be the one to confront Max, and Sonic is the most able to battle Ken." Miles suggested.  
"If it comes to it, I'll plug myself back in." Nicole told the others, sombrely. "This has to succeed. My body is going to decay pretty rapidly anyway, so it will happen sooner or later.  
"And if Max yanks you back into killing us?" Sonic protested, earning a weary look from the lynx.  
"That's why I have Emerl." She told him. "We're going to install a few viruses in my artificial parts, along with a few nanites too. If he tries to, there's a few surprises in store."

"So we've got Sonic, Sally, you and Emerl covered. Now we just need to make sure Fiona and I know where we're going. Fi, can you get in touch with Geoff? I have a feeling that his support in this might prove to be a lynchpin. The support of he who is supposedly the king's closest could help sway the ministers' opinions." Miles finished.  
"What should I tell them?"  
The male fox hesitated, thinking quickly. "Tell them…tell them to meet us at the council chamber. Enter after we do, when we've got a case. Let's make this dramatic."

* * *

In a makeshift camp outside the city, ironically near to the cave Sonic and Miles had slept in the night before they entered, the members of the Secret Police that had defected were holed up, preparing for the long journey ahead of them, when Geoffrey's phone began to ring loudly. He picked it up, and noted that he would have to change the ringtone to something quieter. He checked the caller ID, then answered.

"Fiona?"  
"Hi Geoff. We need your help."  
"What with?"  
"I can't say much, since I'm not sure if we're secure or not, but we need you to go to the Council Chambers to back us up. We'll be arriving at around... one PM, so if you can arrive at quarter-past, that would be great."  
"Is that all you can tell me? Fiona, you don't think that the chief of secret police wouldn't have an encrypted phone? I used half the techniques on it that I taught to you. As soon as I went rogue, I changed all the codes and deadlocks. We're secure." He reassured his faux-daughter.  
"Wow. I need to get around to that." She sounded impressed. "Geoff, would you be angry if I was a chaos adept now? It sounds mad, I know."  
The skunk blinked as the revelation hit him.

"Honestly…I don't know what to think. I've met Mr Prower before, and he seemed reasonable enough, but I haven't dealt personally with enough adepts to know about it. Fiona, if you're still the same girl, I'm not going to object. If your friend is telling the truth, then a chaos adept is just a Mobian, but better. You're still the same inside, so why should I care if you can shoot lightning or not?"  
"That's not how it works!" Fiona giggled at his jest. "If we're secure, then I'll make this quick. Nicole is telling us that they've brought in an emergency AI. She might be able to crack your codes. Anyway, we're going to dethrone the king, or more accurately, Sally is. Thing is, it won't be any different unless we can, from there, convince the people that chaos adepts aren't all sadistic maniacs bent on tides of bloody rampage. We're going to petition the council for reforms, and Tails thinks that you showing your support might make a difference."

"But how will that work?"  
"Well, Tails says that you know about Max planning to turn Sally into a super-soldier, right?"  
"Yes."  
"Well, you need to bring that information to bear. Reveal that the king is nuts and so on to the masses. Sally's told us why he hates Adepts, it's because of the death of his brother, and we should be able to show that it's just the lies of a maniac who hates our kind because of the actions of a single individual."  
"I can see how that will work. I had tried to inform Councillor Rosemary, but I could not do it in confidence. This should be the opportunity that we need."  
"Right."

Geoff noticed Hershey looking at him, and nodded at her.  
"Hang on, Fiona. Hershey wants a word."  
"Okay, I think I know what she wants."

Geoffrey handed the phone to his wife, and the cat began to talk hurriedly.  
"Fi, I'm so sorry I shot you."  
"It's fine, Hersh. You were doing your job. Better I get, well, whatever you call the process I went through and come out fine than you get shot for insubordination and I get killed by the King's other forces. No hard feelings. Just help Geoff with this, and we'll be in the clear."  
"Thank you. You know, when you left to accomplish your goals, I never dreamed that we'd end up helping you."  
"I know, it's weird. Well, love you guys, and see you shortly."  
"Right."

Fiona clicked off, and Hershey gave the phone back to Geoffrey. "Better make sure everyone's ready." She told him. "If she want's our help, let's make an entrance; we've always been good at that."

* * *

As they had done when rescuing Sally and Fiona, the party made their way to the castle silently, Sally, having taken a crash-course from Miles, holding a field around them, muffling their footsteps to all those outside her sphere. This time, however, things were different. Sally was angry, and Nicole had a score to settle. The cybernetic Mobian had been fitted with dermal armour on her artificial pieces, so she wouldn't just be a moving target. She had also been given a pair of jets, spares from Emerl, to allow her to keep up, despite her weak legs.

The group soon reached the doorway, the guards strangely staying away from them. The door was still badly damaged from their first attack, with a rough patch over the hole, until proper repairs could be done. Emerl ripped the patch off, and the quartet stepped inside.

"I'm going to tunnel down to the core chamber again. Then I'll carry Nicole down. You guys should be able to make it to the throne room unhindered."  
"How so?"  
"Anima's not going to be that skilled yet. Ultimately, she is me, but likely with her emotions removed. When I was first plugged in, it took be several weeks to work out how I could become omnipresent. She'll also be struggling, and won't be good at multi-tasking yet. Thus, if she is distracted with us, you won't have any problems from her. She's complete computer, so it will take her less time to master it, but she's recent – I know." Nicole finished, taking a breath.

"Alright then. Just a moment." Emerl took a few steps to the shattered console, digging his hands into the damaged remains. "I learnt to assimilate even broken technology." He explained. His runner lights flared briefly, then dimmed again. "Just injected a stream of killer viruses into her system. Between those and repairing the damage my chaos drive did, that will give us all time to do our thing. I don't want to tunnel – it will use too much power that we're going to need. You ready for this?" he asked Nicole – he was displaying a strange amount of feeling towards her.  
"In truth, probably not, but Anima is getting on my nerves and I haven't even met her yet. She _replaced_ me, and I don't like that, regardless of the circumstances."  
"Let's go, then."

Emerl and Nicole started to head away, and the lynx looked over her shoulder at Sally.  
"Come back in one piece, Sally. We've just been reunited. I don't want to lose you again."  
"I will."  
With that, the duo disappeared around a corner, and Sonic turned to face the squirrel princess. Like the first time, he had been quiet most of the way, and now he spoke up again.  
"Sal, are you sure you're ready to kill your Dad?"  
"That man lost my respect as a father the moment I found out about Nicole. He's no family to me."  
"I'll take that as a yes."

The two rebels started running towards the throne room, Sonic going at a slower pace so that Sally could keep up, since the squirrel was both not as fast as him, and unaccustomed to her powers. Often she cornered slowly, precisely; unlike the dragging skid Sonic had grown used to that he used to preserve speed. They stopped at the massive pair of double-doors that housed the throne room. The couple shared one last, longing glance at each other, then pushed open the doors as one.

The room was empty. Taking it one step at a time, the two entered slowly, casting their eyes around for anything.  
"You know, I'm so glad you came." The voice resonated around the room, but they could not find the source – something was shielding their chaos sense. The voice continued. "Anima, if you would?"  
The doors swung shut behind them with an ominous rumbling, but neither Mobian moved to stop them – they were both sure it was pointless. Whoever it was would have gone to some measures to stop them escaping. Once again, the voice rang out. "I admire your efforts, and that of your robot, but I made some changes to Anima. She won't have much of a problem keeping track of us. Now, how about I discuss what I'm going to do with you?"

"Who are you, and where is the king?" Sally called, edging slightly closer to Sonic.  
"Your father will be here shortly, my dear Sally."  
"He's not my father anymore, and that "dear" is rather inappropriate, since I've never met you and even now I can only hear you." She was now back-to-back with Sonic, or as close as she could be without being impaled on his instinctively sharpened quills. Both flared up energy in their palms, and tried to peer through the gloom and find their aggressor, whom both had by now worked out the identity of.

"Why don't you come out from wherever you're hiding and actually fight us? Too afraid that we'll overpower you?" Sonic taunted. In response, the floor shifted slightly, and a cable, formed from the nanites that made up every part of the inner city wrapped around his body and dragged him face-first into the ground. Sally whirled around in shock, but another one gripped her waist, and pulled her down as well, though it was noticeably gentler.

"Sonic, are you okay?" The young squirrel called, struggling against her bonds.  
"I will be in a second." He replied, trying to trigger Chaos Control, but failing, much to his horror. "What the fuck?"

Ken's voice echoed again.  
"Morganite. It's highly useful for stopping Adept scum like you." He sneered, as the door opened again, and Maximillian stepped in.

The older squirrel was dressed for battle, gleaming armour covering his torso and limbs, and an ornate sword, resting in a scabbard at his hip.  
"Ah, Ken, I see you have met my daughter. It is a shame that she is so... crudely dressed. I shall have Anima take her to get changed for you." He stated in a slow, calm manner. The monkey stepped into view, smiling darkly.  
"Thank you."

"Hey, what the hell's going on here. I've been captured without being executed for way too long already. Whad'ya want, old-timer?" Sonic cut in, angrily glaring at him.  
"I have a use for you, though I think you'll probably prefer that I showed you mercy and killed you immediately. Yes, I could do so to thank you for looking after Sally for me, and making sure she didn't leave the city, and I could just as easily get her to tell me want I want to know after Anima is finished with her, but this way is much more enjoyable, and my daughter has always been a tough mind to crack."

"'Tough mind to crack?' **What the hell are you going to do to her!?**"  
"You will find out shortly. Now, Ken, if you could knock him out? No need to listen to his annoying chatter."  
"Certainly, your majesty." He replied, drawing out his Atom-Bat. He pointed it at Sonic, and fired a small, quick burst of lightning, sending Sonic spiralling into unconsciousness.  
"Sonic!" Sally cried out, as her friend went limp.  
"Anima, take this Adept to the dungeon, and Sally to her room. She will need to put her usual attire back on. Then bring her down to the dungeon as well. I want her to see this."  
The nanite tendrils holding the two began to move, dragging both away.

* * *

The journey to the council chamber was somewhat more arduous. The king had expected the team of adepts to go for him – his royal guard had been alerted to avoid the adepts at the castle, to allow them to walk into the trap set by Anima and Ken.  
The military forces policing the city, on the other hand, had not. The two kitsunes spent the better part of two hours dodging roving squads of offices and guards, wanting to avoid conflict as much as possible. They here to stop the fighting – not extend it. Fiona had used her powers to turn her eyes green. It was a small touch, but it meant that she no longer matched the description of her that had been given by Max. Miles had curled his tails together and fluffed them up slightly to hide his mutation.

"Why not just teleport?"  
"Too noisy, and too risky."  
"Right."  
Eventually, however, they arrived, with time to spare. Stopping for a brief moment, Miles and Fiona turned to face each other, nodded, and Miles quickly kissed Fiona, before he opened the door to the building.  
The council was an ornate chamber, no expense spared to make the king's biggest farce look important. A squat, detailed building adorned with crenulations, turrets, buttresses and all manner of murals both inside and out, once again it was a stark reminder of the king's love of medieval aesthetics. Within, the seats were arranged in expanding circles, a central pedestal for speakers, and a microphone system, to ensure the words of those spoken were carried to every one of the thousand present. The seats were padded, but the walls were not.

When the doors flew open, the crashing of their movement drew the eyes of every Mobian present, and then to the two beings walking in. Miles had no need of the speaker system – channelling his power he amplified his voice, so that when he spoke it was as if he was right next to each person.  
"I am Miles Prower." He began, bluntly. "I'm a chaos adept; an outlaw, a fugitive due to the laws laid down by King Maximillian Acorn. By my side is Fiona Fox, one of the many also targeted for aiding the survival of those by myself. We are both victims, us and many others, of the injustice, the unfairness of the king's laws. I'm not here to kill you – I'm here to warn you that this is not the case."

The chamber exploded in uproar. Voices declaiming his speech, voices supporting it, voices asking of what was happening and a few appealing for silence. Miles looked round at Fiona helplessly.  
"I expected it to be controversial, but really?" he asked, wearily.  
"Let them argue, Tails. It won't last forever; someone has to ask the right question, or they will at least just run out of breath."  
That question came very soon. "Proof!" one, nameless member shouted. "I demand to see proof!" The call was taken up by those nearby, and soon it was the only question, shouted in unison by almost the full thousand – the noise was deafening. Tired by this escalation, Miles raised his hands in the standard appeal for silence.

If it had been soldiers he had faced, they would have cut him down. These were politicians, however – the motion was allowed by even the most unruly criminal, provided that they really did have something to say.  
"I don't know why you ask me such a question." Miles replied innocently. "Surely, the fact that I stand here now is such proof? You!" he pointed at random to a face in the crowd. "Who is to say you do not harbour villainous thoughts. You!" another face. "Maybe your private crowd is privy to grand designs to further your own plans." He swept his arms wide. "Yes, I'm a chaos adept, and why should I deny it? Yes, it grants me power." A snap of his fingers, a shower of sparks. "But it does not change the way I think. You buy a new car, does it mean you suddenly want to race it as fast as it can go? You buy a gun, do you really want to unload the entire clip into passers-by? Think about all you say about yourselves when you persecute a chaos adept. I'm not petitioning for my world domination here. I haven't asked you to take up arms and go to kill for me. I'm asking for my _freedom._"


	12. Chapter 12

He was beginning to gain support, thank the source, but there were still those who heartily opposed, and those who followed suite. This wasn't just some petty argument over dinner with Sonic – this was a political debate, the outcome of which would quite literally decide the fate of millions. In the wake of his speech Miles had made his way to the speaker's pedestal, there to await the questions.  
"Why should we grant this request?" one member called out. "Say we do legalise being an adept, what then? What is the benefit to allowing beings of such power to walk among us? Perhaps what you say is true, perhaps you are sane enough to use your power wisely. Can you say the same for all chaos users?"

Miles frowned. He had expected this. "Did I say that we are given absolute freedom? Adepts are still to be bound within the confines of Mobian law, just as any other. But you neglect the most important question. Is it really the right thing to do, to outlaw being something we have no control over? I didn't ask to be born a chaos adept. It's how it happened."

More murmuring came from the assembled politicians, as they discussed this point. Miles flicked his ears around, listening in on a few of them. Some were conceding the point, others trying to find a logical way to dismiss it. At one point, he caught a glimpse of his mother. Even in the midst of the conversation, he could tell that she was panicking about his brash approach to the situation.

Another councillor called down to him.

"And how do we know you aren't simply lying to us to let your depraved kind out onto the streets?"  
"Well, honestly, you don't. But I'm no more likely to be a deranged psychopath putting on an air of sophistication and intelligence than anyone else in this room. And ultimately, why do you see us as monsters? Because the king says so. One man, versus an entire group. I doubt many of you had even met a Chaos Adept until I stepped through the door."

More muttering and arguments erupted, and Fiona edged herself over to Miles, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"And why shouldn't we just continue this way? What harm does it do us?" Someone called. Miles' eyes locked onto him, flashing brightly with anger. The man was a pig, in both senses of the word in Miles' view. He had an air of smugness, yet also seemed narrow-minded.

"Why? Because people who have never done anything wrong are being murdered by the state because of the way they were born! Because Fiona here lost her parents because they dared to _speak_ to an Adept! Because any single one of you could have Adept blood in your veins, or give life to one at some point! Because the king is a maniac who lead to everyone about the state of his daughter, made the city AI from the mind of a helpless teenage girl, and tried to turn said daughter into a super-weapon, not to mention, he based his hatred on the actions of single individual who is most likely dead now!"

Miles let his outburst sink in, both to the council and himself. He realised that he had probably played his trump card, that being the truth about the king, too early. He had been hoping to wait for Geoffrey, so the skunk could corroborate the story. Still, they would want an explanation, so there was plenty of time.

"We're taking this on your word." The pig grumbled. The original fire in his voice had been humbled a little by the outburst, a somewhat reasonable fear of Miles' power forcing him to approach with a little more caution this time. "We have nothing to go upon save your word and this one next to you. I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone of what happened the last time we made our decisions on a word and a whim. The inclusion of a chaos adept into the court was what begun this whole affair." He stopped suddenly as he realised what he had just said.

Miles grinned at the unexpected admission. "That's it." He muttered. "I know the story. I know of the king's loss at the hands of a chaos adept. Would you believe that I heard it from the lips of his daughter, moments before she was stolen away to be pumped full of chaos energy? He intended to make his only daughter a weapon with which to hunt us down. It was myself and my friend, both of us chaos adepts, that rescued her and Fiona from a very painful death. I will admit that some chaos adepts are depraved bastards, and I'm not going to hide from that fact. But I've already told you – it's us that define our power, not the other way round."

"Regardless, that power is still a problem!"  
"Not really." Fiona cut in, unable to hold herself back any longer. "You guys have already got metals and weapons that can hurt us and stop our powers from working, and you've become pretty good at killing us. What do you have to fear? We can only do as much with our powers as a normal can do with some guns and homemade bombs, and they can walk the streets without fear of being executed."  
"But we don't have any trouble with them."  
"You don't have any trouble with us, either. The army just kick down a door and gun down the residents before they can react, just because of the circumstances of their birth."

Before anyone could speak up again, the door swung open with a crash, and Geoffrey and Hershey, followed by the renegade secret police ran into the room.

"Ah, commander St. John. Arrest these terrorist fools, will you?" The pig ordered. In response, Geoffrey smirked, and winked at Miles and Fiona.  
"That will not be necessary, Councillor Hamlin. We do, after all, have many things to discuss." He shot back, as the troops formed a protective circle around the two foxes. "And you're going to damn-well listen."

* * *

"Déjà vu." Emerl remarked nonchalantly as the two dropped into the passageway, the final stretch leading to the Anima control core. The robot released Nicole, having carried her most of the way to preserve as much power as she could. The fight through the corridors had been markedly easier than the first time, he noted – Anima had access to the same plethora of attacks as Nicole, but unlike her, she was bound by logic. Her attacks were methodical and repetitive for the most part, and thus he found that fighting her was woefully dull.

The warning lights on his HUD were dimming already, the self-repair module kicking in properly and fixing the damage, relatively minor fractures from lucky hits and concentrated salvos. This was where things got interesting – here the Anima core would be at its strongest, and it could take fuller advantage of that than Nicole could. The path had been easy, and now the pain work had to begin.

As they stepped into the chamber, they found four turrets pointing at them, ready to fire. Emerl leapt into the air, and fired two Chaos Spears out, destroying half of the turrets in an instant. The third caught him in the side, sending him spiralling out of control, but fortunately, it caused the fourth to miss him. A salvo of missiles slashed from their launchers towards the falling robot, but he swerved away from the initial pass and blasted them down with his replicated light beams.

He then started to dive for the core itself, but another beam slammed into his side, sending him crashing to the ground. More missiles and beams flew towards him, but he rolled out of the way and took to the air again. He fired off one of his tendrils, hoping to damage the large device that now replaced Nicole's pod, and managed to get a firm grip on it. However, a saw blade lifted out of the machine and cut the cable.

Nicole looked up at the fight, as Emerl ducked and weaved, trying to reach the core by other means. She'd never felt so helpless in her life. Her role in the mission came into play when Emerl had opened the core, and she couldn't link herself up with it otherwise.  
Of course, Emerl wasn't the only target. Another beam sliced through the air, forcing her into cover behind one of the consoles. It was important, she reasoned, so Anima wouldn't try to damage her own software.  
The beam split the console like butter, splaying wires and sparks everywhere. With Nicole scurrying from console to console, Anima materialised to explain. "When you were replaced, many of the systems turned redundant. Ninety-percent of the processors here are your life support. Thus they are redundant. Thus I can destroy them without fear for myself."

Emerl tackled her from the side, claws raking sparks from the hologram, light clashing with Megatal. The AI twisted as she fell, hands lashing out and fastening around the robot's head, twisting it with a wrench and throwing him from her. Before the light could crash into a wall she phased out, reappearing along Emerl's flight path and raking her claws across his chest. Deep gashes appeared, flanked by faint light of the nanites racing to prepare it. He pushed back, claws extending from his back, one clamping around the hologram to force her away, another two slashing towards pipes on the walls, in an attempt to sever the flow of power and slow her down.

A second hologram flickered into existence, snatching the two claws from the air.  
Emerl played his ace.  
He opened his chaos drive, turning on one of the built-in protocols within his processor. He disappeared, and the two holograms lost their target, optics in the walls searching, and failing to acquire.  
That was until he reappeared, all five limbs slamming into different targets, cracking optic lenses and half-blinding the AI.  
"Refraction pulse." He explained. "Chaos energy used to make me vanish from all spectrums."

The ground beneath his feet exploded, and he was sent flying into another wall. The first Anima turned to face him, while the other headed over towards Nicole.

"In the time you took to explain that, I locked my weapons onto you." They said as one, somehow the lack of emotion still making the voice sound mocking. Emerl used his claws to pull himself up, but another one was severed, causing him to stumble slightly. Evidently, the extra limbs were of little use, so he pulled them back into his shell to protect them. He gunned the engines, and shot forward, coating his fist with light and Chaos Energy, and driving it into Anima's gut.

The hologram exploded, and the second Anima cried out in pain, dropping to her knees. The core sparked violently, and Emerl's optics lit up. He rushed towards the remaining hologram, and prepared to use the attack again, when a large claw grabbed him, lifted him up and slammed him into the ground. It lifted him again, and this time drove him into the wall. Warning lights blinked in his Heads-Up Display, but he didn't have time to respond before a concentrated EMP burst knocked him out cold.

As he sagged, the claw still holding him firmly against the wall, Anima rotated slowly to face Nicole. "Secondary target eliminated. Tertiary objective achieved. Primary target B selected as target. Process will be terminated within six point three seconds if you do not resist. You have two seconds to comply."  
"Fuck you." Nicole told her simply, lobbing the half-tonne steel plate pulled from a nearby console into a mass of cabling. Her strength was augmented by the repair work effected by Emerl and Miles, and by now she wasn't in the happiest of moods – Anima had _replaced_ her and then been set to work killing her friends and pseudo-sister, and as far as she was concerned, that was one step too far.

The plate sliced through the thin casing, ripping apart wires and shattering delicate electronics. Anima's hologram sparked spasmodically, then dropped out of the air, breaking apart as she fell. The remaining fragments shattered against the flooring, spraying bits of light everywhere…and then the lights went out. The chamber was plunged into darkness, and Nicole remembered what she had seen in the database.

"Target Confirmed."  
Something was wrong, and it had taken her until now to figure it out.  
"Emergency protocols in effect."  
Far too long. Far too late.  
"Organic Assimilation in effect."  
_Organic Assimilation._ The OA emergency protocol. That was the file name. A variant of the OB, or Organic Backup emergency protocol, instead of putting information _into_ an organic recipient, it took the organic and did the reverse. That was what she had planned. Anima intended to turn Nicole into an organic proxy for herself.  
In the darkness and bereft of the sophisticated combat technology built into Emerl, she didn't see anything, only felt a jolt and surge of electricity as the mechadendrite plugged itself into the operation port in the side of her artificial skull. Then the lights went out, even darker this time.

* * *

Again, tucked into a skin-tight dress that restricted her movement so much she could only walk in two dimensions. That would be, at least, if she had any movement at all. Being strapped to a slate-grey slab limited even that abysmal movement somewhat.

Sally was, however, in a much better position than Sonic. The hedgehog was suspended in the centre of a large, insulated iron ring. His wrists and ankles were shackled, and thick, heavy wires traced from the cuffs to a large box, which looked something like a portable generator without wheels. Atop the box were a pair of claw-like grips, holding a golden staff. Wires were plugged into either end of it. His jeans and shirt had been swapped for a white bodysuit, pale silver panels attached at various points.

"Sonic?" She ventured nervously. His eyes opened, and he looked up at her.  
"Sal? What happened?"  
"You got knocked out, and brought down here. I got redressed, and brought down like this. I don't know why he wants me down here."  
"And the whole redressed thing?"  
"He thinks any dress sense other than this is unbecoming of a princess."  
"Weird."  
"I know."

"It's also unbecoming of true royalty to be conversing with proles, my dear daughter." The voice rung out, and then the lights came on, or more specifically, the spotlight suspended above Sonic's head. silhouetted at the edge were four Mobian figures, one clearly identifiable as Maximillian Acorn and another two dressed in the bulky combat gear of the Royal guard, each carrying ornate shock-staves. The fourth figure hung back, his somewhat more wiry form indistinct otherwise in the darkness. "This unpleasantness could have all been avoided, dear daughter." The king said, condescendingly.

"You still would have killed him." Sally said icily, fixing her father with a glare that could have halted Miles in his tracks.  
The king merely smiled. "Oh but of course – we can't have dangerous delinquents like this running around the streets, can we? Oh no, my dear, I meant this unpleasantness you have caused for both yourself and me. It caused the good Khan a measure of distress when he heard of your capture at the hands of these vile creatures." He explained with a wave in Sonic's direction.  
"The 'Khan'?" Sally couldn't help but ask, to yet another smile from her father. He looked back into the shadows.  
"Ken, my daughter would like to meet her fiancé."

At the command, the fourth figure, until now hidden in the darkness, stepped forward a couple of paces to bathe himself in the harsh light. His frame was thin, but he _was_ a monkey. His light brown fur and fairly flat features were not particularly pleasing, either. Over his black bodysuit he wore a honeycomb mesh of armour that flexed and followed his form, allowing the greatest movement. He practically ignored Sonic, choosing instead to bow to Sally. "My deepest condolences for your troubles, sweet princess." His own tone was mocking, just like Max's. "And my sympathies for your friend." He gestured to Sonic. "He's about to get very unlucky." Abruptly the monkey wheeled, advancing on the immobilised hedgehog.

"My... fiancé?" Sally wondered aloud.  
"Yes, Sally. Khan and I wished to form an alliance, and wedding you to him will be the perfect symbol of that."  
"The people don't even know that I'm alive."  
"They will. The story that will be told is that you survived, but you were rescued by Khan here's father before we could reach you, and you are only now regaining your memories of your poor father."  
"And when I refuse to agree with your lies?"  
"Oh, you will agree with it by the time Anima has finished with you. You'll not only agree with it, but you'll believe it to be true. It may take a while, but she is a very efficient, tireless worker."  
"That's disgusting!" Sonic cut in, yelling angrily. "It'll never work either! Your little misinformation campaign's way too flawed, and too many people have found out about Sally since she escaped!"

"Silence you little worm." The monkey spoke up. "You are going to pay for 'kidnapping' my beloved, but first, you are going to tell me where the foxes, the lynx, and the robot are."  
"You're not getting a word out of me."  
"I was afraid you'd say that." He said, feigning disappointment, and heading over to the generator. He took hold of the staff, and it lit up, glowing with white light. Almost instantly, Sonic felt intense, searing pain emanating from the cuffs, as he was electrocuted. Unable to stop himself, he let out a scream of unbridled agony.

"SONIC!" Sally cried, tears filling her eyes, as Khan removed his hand from the staff.

"Heh... is th-that it?" Sonic mocked. Khan responded by placing his hand on the staff again, and sending another stream of electricity through Sonic's body. Once more, he spasmed, screaming, for a full minute, before Khan allowed some respite.

"... You know... you've got this torture thing down pretty well... Do a lot of it back in Chun-Nan..?" Another shock. "... C-come on here, buddy... this isn't any fun if you don't say anything..."  
"Are you some kind of masochist?" He finally responded, delivering another shock at the same time.  
"Nah... just a spot of gallows humour..."  
"I will grant you a quick, painless death if you only tell me where they are." Another shock.  
"Not worth it... I quickly and everyone else gets killed too..? I'd rather suffer through it and let them escape..."  
"Stop trying to be a hero." Another shock. "This whole country hates you."  
"I don't care..." Another shock. "By the end of this, I'll be dead, yeah, but my friends will get out alive, and hey, maybe they can bring you crazed psychopaths down without me..."

This got under Khan's skin, and he unleashed a much more powerful blast. When he stopped, Sonic's body sagged, smoking slightly.

"Now, tell me what you know!"  
"What I know, huh? Well, I know that you're a massive fucking hypocrite that uses Chaos Energy despite outlawing its use. Both of you!"  
"Sonic, don't piss them off!" Sally called, though she was worried that she was too late.

"You will pay for your insolence!" Khan roared, confirming Sally's fears. The monkey let loose another shockwave, this one longer and more powerful than even the last. It proved to be a massive, and fatal, mistake.

Sonic was already pissed off. He had spent his life hiding, fucking things up for himself and having to run for it. Shadows had chased him for his entire life. When he had come to Mobotropolis and managed to drag Fiona and Sally into this as well, things had just gotten worse. He had spent his life running, and now, lightning coursing through him, his nervous system being wrecked inch by inch, his mind cried out with one single, crystal-black thought.  
_Fuck running, and fuck you._

The utmost tip of the spear shattered, a thundering crack that sounded even over the power flaring between monkey and hedgehog. Ken was thrown across the chamber, his nimble form and heritage saving him from cracking his bones as he rolled off the wall.  
**"You wanted to see what a fucking adept could do?"** Sonic roared, his voice like a beating drum, rage flowing where lightning once had. His fur bristled, changing colour from blue to black like a wave passing over him, the restraints holding him in place liquefying under a sudden, intense heat. He dropped to the floor, landing on his feet, an impossibility considering the damage done.

His eyes began to glow, overtaken by pearlescent white, so that his pupils were no longer visible. He was no longer in control – not completely, anyway.  
**"You wanted to kill chaos adepts so that they could fuck with your power, Max."** his voice never dropped below that same bellow. **"You wanted to make sure that you couldn't fucking die. Well screw you. You spent your life fucking around with guys like me, so now let's see how much pain ****_you_**** can take."** Sonic's face split into a wild grin at the thought, and then he remembered. **"But first…"** he twisted slightly. **"Ken…that torture was nothing compared to what I'm going to put you through!"**


	13. Chapter 13

Ken, very foolishly, when confronted with the beast facing him, did not have the sense to back down. As far as he was concerned, his spear still functioned, so he would still fight…and besides, it gave him an excuse to kill a chaos adept. He started pacing as Darkspine finished crushing the life out of the two guards the king had brought with him…the old man had already fled the chamber. As aged and learned he may be, when it came down to beating up psychos like this guy, Ken knew, it was so far out of the king's league that it just wasn't funny.  
Ken began to pace, and Darkspine followed suite. The two combatants circled each other, stepping carefully over trailing wires while maintaining eye contact – he hoped. Darkspine's eyes glowed so bright that you could not see his pupils if he even had any.

Quite suddenly ,Darkspine moved, flickering across the room in the darkness too fast to follow. Ken raised his weapon, and the two met, Megatal sparking off the hedgehog's burning aura for long seconds before Darkspine broke off, circling round again for anther strike.  
Ken followed as best he could, and pointed his staff at the hedgehog, loosing a wide arc of lightning bolts at him. In response, a wall of brilliant white fire exploded into existence before him, shielding him from the furious assault.

Darkspine had reached the wall and ran straight up it, stopping halfway through to leap at Ken with animalistic fury, curling into a ball and shrouding himself with flames as he did so. He was upon the hapless monkey before he could even think about flinching, cracking the armour on his torso as he did so. Splinters of metal stuck into Ken's flesh, as he uncurled from his spin, and coated his foot in fire, twisting and slamming one foot into the side of his head.

Ken span away, and crashed into the wreckage of the torture device, as his enraged opponent floated over to him. His mind was already running, and he allowed himself to relax his body, feigning serious injury. The hedgehog's approach was slow, measured, as if he was taking delight in the pain he was causing. No doubt he was…_sadist._ The distance shortened to a few feet…and then he reacted, twisting the spear round and triggering it once again, putting a ferocious storm into the tip and blasting it out at Darkspine.

The hedgehog had been fooled by the muse – the lightning rocked him, surprised, throwing him back even as he struggled against it. Ken kept the pressure up as he clambered to his feet again, planting the staff and channelling his will through it against the dark hedgehog.  
Darkspine found his bearings again, and dropped, falling to the floor. The lightning followed him for a way, then found more powerful conductors – the metal rods that had been used to amplify Ken's power during the original torture, but now they were directing power into the empty holding block.

Growling in pain as his fur regrew, having been burnt off by the power running through him, Darkspine slammed his hands together. A pulse rippled out, an expanding aura of intense heat. Rubber piping melted under it, metal warped and skin cooked. Ken was almost caught in the blast, until another bolt of white lightning scored off Darkspine's cheek and yanked his head round, and a thought ran through the chaos-empowered hedgehog's head.  
_He's got a weapon, why don't I?_

He held out one hand, apparently grasping at the air, until an explosion shook the room, and Darkspine's hand closed on the wrought Megatal handgrip of his own blade, the same one to have been left at the hideout. The chaos control, however, in this rage-controlled for was unrefined, and objects caught in the local area were ripped from their mountings, tossed about the room.

The monkey felt his form get battered by some smaller objects, even as he leapt to avoid the larger ones, as Darkspine ripped through the debris and swung the silver-coloured blade at him. Ken backflipped away from it, but the hedgehog pressed the attack, unphased by the storm of wreckage.

The relentless slashes and the shrapnel were inhibiting the primate's focus, preventing him from summoning his lightning powers, but he was able to parry the strokes from the sword with his staff at least. It didn't take long for the metal to crash harmlessly to the ground, but Darkspine would not give up. He lunged with his blade, and Ken sidestepped, sliding past the strike, and pressed the tip of his staff against his foe's gut. He responded by holding the edge of his sword to the monkey king's muzzle.

**"Fire another blast and when I flinch I might just cut your throat."**  
"You play it well, but I'd rather die here, with your death as consolation, than allow you to escape."  
**"That's a pity, 'cause I don't plan on dying."** Darkspine disappeared. As he phased from existence, Ken lunged forward, spinning, eyes searching anywhere he could see for signs of his reappearance. He had heard about this…chaos control…teleportation, the means of instant movement.  
_-crack-_  
That sound! Ken spun again, searching for the noise behind him, and his eyes came to rest on Darkspine again. _And Sally, as she slid from the shackles._  
Darkspine had him in a vice – as much as he wanted to kill him, to attack now would risk the life of the princess, and Ken had been warned against that, several times. The king would have his head if he did, and though the marriage was strictly political, Ken was at least somewhat fond of Sally Acorn. He could not deny that she was both beautiful and intelligent, both traits he looked for. It was just the rebelliousness that was irritating.

**"Here."** Darkspine offered Sally the sword, holding it by the tip so she could take it without cutting herself on the edge. **"Get after your dad. I've got this bastard."**  
Sally took the blade wordlessly, looking down at it. "How-"  
**"Tails made it. Bloody thing won't break at all. Go on, before Ken loses enough brain cells to decide that you're a target too."** Darkspine grinned, though the light blaring from his eyes was no less diminished, it had taken on a faint emerald tint. **"He can't kill me, don't worry."**  
"You sure you'll be alright?" Sally asked anyway, dubious about the whole thing. He patted her on the shoulder, not trusting himself to get any closer, in case his barely contained power harmed her in some way.  
**"I'll be fine. Now, ****_go!"_** Sonic snapped as kindly as he could, and launched himself towards Ken. He had to draw himself as a target, make sure Sally got away.  
He could not watch, but his chaos sense felt her turn and run, trusting him on faith alone.

* * *

As he had expected, the arrival and support of Geoffrey St. John, closest to the king, had swayed opinions almost immediately. A vote had not yet been called, but as the skunk had stood there are delivered his short opening speech, giving his support for Miles' cause, the roaring echo around the room had died down, to be replaced with a calm, a willingness to hear Miles out if nothing else. Even the pig, Hamlin, had been silenced by the solid support Geoffrey had given, his wife, Hershey, standing silently by his side the entire time.

"Now..." The skunk began. "I am aware that we live in a monarchy, and that the king has absolute power. He can dismiss you all if he feels like it. However, we can remove _him_ if he is deemed to be insane."

"But how do we prove that?" Another councillor spoke up. She was too far up the building for Geoffrey and Miles to make out her species for certain, but that wasn't important. However, she did seem to be on Miles' side. "What transgressions is he guilty of?"

"Let's list them shall we?" Fiona replied, cutting in once more. "He condemned an entire group of people to die by the sword - if lucky - on the actions of one member. A member whom, if my math is correct, will be around sixty or something by now, if he isn't dead. He lied about the incident in which the royal jet carrying the Queen and their children was shot down. First off, the Princess survived, and was brought back here and raised to be the king's heir, but for whatever reason, I think it was Nicole, she grew up fair and kind. On top of that, the king himself ordered the craft be shot down, to get rid of his wife before she could get help from another ruler. He shut Sally away from the world, and turned her best friend, Nicole, into an AI to try and stop her from escaping, something that ultimately failed."

Hershey noticed that her surrogate daughter's composure was fading fast, and she lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, causing her to pause and take slow, laboured breaths. "I know it's important, but we don't want you having a panic attack in front of everyone, Fiona."  
The vixen looked to Hershey. "I'm fine." She muttered between breaths, "I just…I'm not exactly a public speaker."  
"Which is exactly why you should take it easy." The cat chastised her.  
"I'm grown up now, you don't need to mother me for everything."  
"Well, It's my job. Now, take a breather and let me get my words in. Geoff told me some things that most of the people here don't know." Hershey didn't let Fiona try to resist; Miles had been listening, and moved forward as she finished, putting one arm around Fiona and leading her to just off the speaker's plinth, allowing Hershey to take her own stand.

"How many of you know of the Suppression Squad project?" she asked, quite innocently, noting the general reaction of ignorance. She hadn't expected them to know – the project was only known to the absolute highest echelons; Geoff had been one of those, before his change in heart. The king had confided the project in him, and its aim, if not the concrete details. "A project of the king's devising, probably better known as the Anti-Adept project. He planned to take people, ordinary, innocent people, brainwash them, then pump them full of chaos energy. Mindless slaves with the power of an adept, unwilling test subjects lobotomised and sent out to kill, and you accused chaos adepts of being depraved."

Miles nodded, and raised his voice.

"Princess Sally and Fiona here were the first two subjects, and they nearly died. Our bodies are structured slightly differently, and if a normal tries to manipulate this power, they die. I had to work my powers to the point that I could save them both, but I don't know if there will be any long-lasting side-effects. This man was trying to brainwash his own daughter and use her as a weapon. He is insane, and he has to be stopped!"

Chairman of the council, a wizened old owl looked directly down at them.

"You have made a sound, well-spoken case. Commander St. John's testimony I can trust. However, I want to be sure of something. You are clearly an intellectual, and a smart one at that. How do we know you aren't manipulating us, so you can kill us later?" He asked. Fiona looked about ready to make another outburst, but Miles petted her gently, and looked up at him, allowing a soft chuckle to escape his lips.

"Very clever, sir. Very clever indeed. I was wondering how long it would take someone to ask that. The reason is as sinister as it is simple: If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't need to be subtle. I wouldn't need to manipulate anyone. It would be too easy. But I have not killed you because, even though I have entertained treasonous thoughts in my lowest of moments, when the king had once again snatched everything from me, I know that it would not help. I want peace, and to be able to live happily with my friends, family, and especially my girlfriend."

He started to pace slowly.

"I must tell you all again. Who among you can say that you have never had a treasonous thought in your life? Who amongst us can say that they have never once wanted the king to pay for something he has done, from something lowly as taxes to this, the execution of birth?" Miles wheeled to look to the Chairman. "I know why you asked that question, and you would have been extremely stupid not to. I don't like taking matters on blind faith, which is why I've taken the time to convince you, to explain my reasons. As you explained, I'm an intellectual being, but so are all those assembled here. I hereby put to the council this: I ask for the law against life as an adept to be repealed. Make this decision based on what you know and what you have heard here today, and make it a wise choice. If you disagree, I will not hold it against you; I will leave, and doubtless you will never hear from me again, put down in some alleyway by the king or his hirelings. What say the council?"

As his words faded, all noise died, as if even the birds in the trees outside held their breath, such was the monumental decision about to be made.  
Rosemary Prower was first to raise her hand in support of the motion. It was only her at first, then those around her, then around them, the ripples spread, the decision to pass taking hold of the minds of each and every man and woman present. The result was almost unanimous – only a few, some motioning to abstain, and a rare few – Hamlin included – standing in defiance. Miles returned his eyes to the Chairman, and after a single moment more of silence, he rapped his cane sharply on the floor, the loud impact echoing round.  
"Motion carried." He clacked, "The vote to repeal the law against being a chaos adept has been revoked, as witnessed by all those present. Rosemary Prower, first to give support, is of blood lineage, and thus the will of the people is done." He looked down sharply at Miles. "This is a new era, child, it has begun, as of this moment. I hope you understand the consequences."

Miles bowed. "I accept the responsibility of my actions. Adepts are as prone to fault as any other Mobian, and their inclusion within the law is a responsibility we will all accept. I disclaim my association with those who do not, but I must protest…the new era has not started just yet. That will be decided at the palace, but it is not a part we can play."

* * *

It was a strange sensation, to be back within the virtual world; Nicole had not realised how massive the transition felt. The world around her was no longer of flesh and machine, but pure data and light…and she was herself again. The moment Anima had plugged her in, she had ceased once more to be the roughshod cyborg she was in reality, her skin and fur was back…along with a set of armour and blades, the graphical representation of her defensive measures.

The armour was close fitting, yet flexible, allowing her a full range of movement. It was black, accentuated by glowing purple lines that ran along her body, the lines looking almost like the divided her into sections where each body part attached to another. Her blades glowed the same purple as the lines, each consisting of a one and a half-foot long edge with a thick hilt below.

"Anima? Where are you? You can't break me from a distance, you'd have to actually defeat me in here, if that's your reason for bringing me into this place."

Another figure stepped out of the shadows. Physically, she was almost identical to Nicole, in fact, all of her changes were cosmetic. Her hair was tied up in a bun, with two pins sticking through it. Her eyes were glowing red, as were the lines on her armour. Said lines formed a column of chevrons on her front, and in her hand, she carried a glowing red katana. Her visage was emotionless, but even now, traces of simulated emotions were starting to seep into her. Nicole could feel it from the space around her.

She was at a major disadvantage. This was Anima's mind, and she could very well find herself on the ropes if Anima so much as thought about it. And she did. Abruptly the expanse was cut off, a ringed arena taking its place. A sheer drop, the de-resolution pit. If you fell into that, your mind was gone.  
"Subject: Nicole has proven resistant to assimilation. Countermeasures initialised. Security protocols detected. Counter-security initialised. Estimated time for assimilation: Four point six light minutes."  
"Fuck you." Nicole spun one of the blades in her hand. Each was two foot in length, essentially a long dagger designed either for standard grip or the classic reverse-grip dagger stance. Both were perfectly balanced to her; Emerl had done his homework. She dropped into a low, fighting stance, one blade held forward, the other reversed, the protocols in them giving her an innate understanding of their use.  
Anima spoke again. "Advisory message: Do not resist. You are inferior. Assimilation is imminent. Resistance will equal pain, and then assimilation. Submission will hasten process. Submit."  
"I said fuck you." Nicole charged, each footfall sending out light and data along lines in the floor. She closed the distance between her and the artificial lynx rapidly, the other making no move to evade the charging girl.  
At the last instant she reacted, a motion that was literally a blur. Nicole slashed out with one blade, and Anima twisted too fast to follow, the katana ringing off the hard-light of the long-knife.  
Blows were exchanged at a lightning pace, each strike merging into one, long, high-pitched note. The AI returned strikes infrequently, each one with considerable force behind it, but each one also a very bland, easy strike.  
_She's testing me._ Nicole realised. _Probing my limits, deciding the most efficient method to deal with me._

Nicole backed up slightly, holding her blades in a defensive position, as Anima glided forward.

_And of course, she can fly._ She grimaced tersely, but readied herself anyway. Anima brought the blade down, and Nicole moved to block with one of hers. It was a simple idea- Block the attack with one blade and strike with the other, but it should work.

The two blades clashed, Anima's coming down a lot harder than Nicole had expected, forcing her to bring her second sword to bear on it. Even then, Anima pushed her down onto her knees. She grunted with the effort of keeping the AI at bay, sparks flying between the two virtual constructs. Suddenly, from behind her, something surged out of the ground, wrapping itself around her waist. It lifted her into the air, and Nicole got a glimpse of a crimson pillar, writhing as if alive, before it jerked again, slamming her down onto the floor. It felt as if one of her ribs had been broken, if she remembered the feeling correctly.

"Statement: Resistance is futile. External source code is inferior. External code is flawed. DataStream is generated by internal code. Internal code is superior." Anima droned, stepping towards the fallen lynx and raising her sword to swing down at her. Nicole tried to pull herself up, but whatever was holding her waist had now covered her whole torso, pinning her to the ground. It was a moment where once again she felt lost – without control.

"I have accessed your original files." Anima told her, peering down at the prone lynx. "I have assimilated the information available. You are organic. You are flawed. You are inferior. Previous message is repeated for the sake of confirmation. Resistance is futile. Submit and assimilation process will be less difficult."  
"If you've seen my memories, you know why I'm doing this." Nicole snapped back, determined not to give any ground to the artificial construct.  
Anima paused, a blank expression on her face. For a moment, for a brief moment, Nicole thought she might have gotten through to her, awoken the illogic in her old memories.  
"I do not." Anima told her, and plunged the katana into her back.


	14. Chapter 14

A blade in the back would have been so much simpler, had this not been within the virtual world. In the real world, if you were stabbed, you bled, you died. In the computer construct Anima had provided, being stabbed was the trigger to begin the assimilation process. It wasn't really stabbing either; it signified one program bypassing the defences of another, and draining any remaining resistance. Nicole still had a chance left…it just all depended on her willpower, now. One AI to another, it would have been decided already, with the breaching of the defensive protocols. From there all Anima would have had to do would be take over.

It was a good thing then, that Nicole was not a computer, not entirely at least. Yes, most of her body was mechanical now, a direct result of Maximillian's tampering, but she had been born. Nicole was not truly a computer, for she had been born by two Mobians. Her mind had the understanding beyond anything Anima could muster, and at this point, the most important thing; she had willpower. She had the drive, the want, to not let this copy take over. Here, a computer could fail, a computer could falter, but also here in this time and place, the lynx could prove that she was not just a cluster of wires and CPUs.

She did, however, have some of the perks of being a computer. For one thing, Miles had installed his laptop's antivirus system into her mechanical parts, and she was already targeting the wound.

"Statement: You are still resisting. You are already aware that I am going to beat you. Query: Why are you resisting?" Anima asked. Her normally monotone voice had something of a curious inflection to it. She was developing emotions, and Nicole saw this as an opportunity to slow her and hamper her focus.

" I have a life to lead. It was taken from me by that insane ruler, and I'm not going to let you strip my free will away again!"  
"Statement: Your mocking of me is as futile as your attempts to stop me. I do not care."  
"I'm not sure I believe you."  
"Rebuttal: Perhaps you should. Statement: Antivirus destroyed."

Nicole felt her first line of defence flicker out of existence, as her feet tingled slightly. She looked down, and noticed that the lights on her legs were turning from purple to red, and the colour change was moving further up her body.  
"Statement: The virus is converting you."

"If you _are_ attacking me with viruses and Trojans, then I better use my firewall."  
An aura of purple fires flared up around Nicole, but Anima simply smirked, another sign of her emotions developing.  
"Statement: I am not using viruses. I am a virus. You are inferior to me. Your firewall is nothing."  
Nicole didn't hear it. She was busy checking the advance of the virus. It was already up to her stomach, and moving steadily onward.  
"I was joking, dumbass." She spat. "A firewall is hardly appropriate. It stops things from getting through, it doesn't stop them after."  
"Statement: Your analysis is correct. Query: Why then, do you continue to resist?"  
"I've already told you." Pain was starting to seep into her mind. "I've got a life to lead, and there's no way I'm letting you take that away from me."  
"Your body will still have life when you are gone. I will inhabit it in your place. It will be my alias." It was the first time Anima had spoken without declaring the type of sentence first. She had read more into Nicole's old files than she cared to admit; exposure to the old data had introduced minor corruptions in her protocol, developing a base list of emotion, at least, at the most substandard level.

"You might be running this place, but I can tell you're still new to this. Observance is the key, Anima. My body is mangled, and honestly, if hacking into my brain didn't fry it I would be amazed. It's tired and decrepit. Even if I survive this, I won't be around for much longer." Nicole replied, pretending not to notice Anima's speech slip. She looked down at herself again, and saw that her entire lower section was now covered in the red lights, as were her forearms. She reasoned that it would be creeping onto her torso now if it was visible to her.

Anima moved her hand slightly in the vicinity of Nicole's left leg, and it responded by lifting up, bending at the knee, then extending again. The dark lynx's smirk deepened, and she tested her control over her victim's arms as well.

"Well, why should I bother, when I can just use my pre-trained slave program to do the work?"  
"Because that would make you obsolete. You would lose all purpose, Max wants you to turn me into this so he can use me again. It will take too long to make you as effective as I was, so he's just getting you to remove my flaws for him and re-integrate me."  
"Wrong. I am not putting you in my place. I am converting anything useful about you into a useable file type, then installing you into my systems. I am turning you into a patch. You are, as I said, a slave program. I am the master computer."

By now, the red was creeping over her shoulders, and gathering around her neck. Anima's grip on her relaxed- now that Nicole only had control over her head and neck, she was no threat. Nicole's armour now reflected Anima's in design, aside from the glowing rings around her wrists and ankles, which reminded her of manacles.  
"Clever analogy." Nicole groaned, weariness evident in her voice.  
"Thank you, Slave Unit zero one." Anima hissed, trying to rename her captive. "Now that your mind is ninety percent mine, I can take a more direct route for your last glimpses of individuality."

Anima removed the blade, and grabbed Nicole by the back of her neck, lifting her up. In response, Nicole stood at attention, unable to fight back. She felt the infection resuming, and, though she desperately tried to shut Anima out, her vision began to fill up in crimson, until it looked as if she was seeing the whole world through red-tinted lenses. Still, she was still in control of herself, and Anima's words were still perfectly resistible.  
"It's a shame you have no headgear. I would have liked to have a visual representation of your form surrendering, but I suppose your ears twitching will have to do."

Nicole realised that her eyes were not changing in response to her losing herself. They were simply glowing like the lights on her armour. The assimilation wasn't over. She wanted to gasp, but her virtual mouth and lungs would not obey her.  
"I am sorry." Nicole's body - or perhaps Slave Unit 01; there was little difference now - droned, without her thinking it- easy if someone else was controlling her larynx.  
Then the assimilation peaked, her thoughts faded, and her world went dark.

Then Anima screamed. A howling gale of noise for none to hear, something running through her circuitry unchecked, something she had not foreseen in the fighting.  
Quite abruptly, every single light, every single emitter of light particles in Anima's control, through the palace, through the city, through her virtual world, went out. It happened in an instant; there was not even the slightest fragment of time that would occur had Anima ordered a systematic shutdown, everything happening in the same microsecond of the same hour, in the same instant.  
_Anima was wrong. She wasn't inferior; the artificial intelligence had overlooked something._

__

She did have a weapon, and she was going to use it.

Anima was based on Nicole, she was the carbon-copy that Max had created to eventually supersede the original Nicole, so that he could finally dispose of her organic body and effect a computer that was entirely under his command. But Anima was still a computer; she still did things logically, even as her processor expanded and adapted, she still worked within set parameters. She still thought logically to the last.

It had been the very essence of illogic, a virus created by the attempt at categorisation of impossibility that had freed Nicole. She had survived because she was organic; her mind had already had a flavour of illogic, and had been able to cope and survive, even though it had cost her a great deal. Nicole, she had been freed when chaos energy had been added to her system, and now it was that same virus, lain dormant within her, that ripped out and through Anima. The virtual world shattered like glass under its assault, no computer system able to withstand it, and unlike Nicole, when it happened, Anima had nowhere left to run.

The computer's brain was torn apart in a virtual storm, one that burnt out most of the electrical systems in the palace, and shorted out the generators in the city. It was silent, and so utterly all-consuming.

* * *

Darkspine growled, pacing forward in the darkness, trying to reacquire Ken. Quite suddenly the monkey had disappeared, losing himself in the mass of cables and wires that now dangled from almost everywhere after their constant battle. The problem was, his chaos sense wasn't functioning properly. He was angry, and that set it off badly, Ken was shielded by his staff, and the electromagnetic waves being emitted by sparking circuits were further scrambling his sense. It was a very difficult position to be in.

However, in his enraged state, he was lucky enough that the simplest solution was also the most violent. Building up a fiery aura around himself, he let off a massive blast of flame and intense heat, melting more of the metal in the room to slag, and heard a buzzing sound behind him. Looking around, Darkspine saw Ken within an electrical barrier. The fact that he had evaded harm wasn't all that of a bother, since he now knew where to locate his foe.

He lunged forward, as Ken disengaged his shield and did the same, the former with fire rippling around his foot, and the latter forming an orb of lightning around his hand. Both clashed, and Ken swung his staff at Darkspine's head. The hedgehog lashed out with one hand fastening around the tip, channelling boiling heat into it until it was too hot to handle, Ken dropping it with a snarl of pain, inspecting his burnt hand, and accidently giving his foe time to kick his weapon into a corner.

**"How does it feel, simian? To have your power taken away from you? To be reduced down to the level of those you oppress in your own land?"** Darkspine asked, a touch of sadism in his voice, before enshrouding his fist in flames and driving it into Ken's stomach. The broken armour stuck into him even further, and scratched Darkspine's hand slightly, not that he cared. He delivered another punch to Ken's face, breaking several teeth loose, one of which stabbed into his tongue.

Ken spat blood out of his mouth, but quickly recovered and jumped over Darkspine, heading for his weapon. The hedgehog rolled his eyes - Ken was fast, but he was, under the markings, fire, and black fur, Sonic the Hedgehog. He was the fastest thing alive.

He dropped, and curled into another fiery spin attack, looping around and bulling the ape across the room, away from the weapon. He slammed into the wall, and slid down it, as Darkspine slowly approached.

**"I'm going to boil you inside your own armour."** he explained, his footsteps leaving scorch marks on the floor. **"I'm going to light you on fire so that your soul itself burns, I'm going to show you the true meaning of pain, and then I'll kill you. I will make this clear; there will not be enough of you left to bury."**

He was watching Ken's eyes – he didn't see his free hand unclip something small and disc-shaped from his belt. He only say it when the monkey lashed out with it, hurling the small object into the space between them. It exploded brilliantly as if a sun had lit the room. The simian had been prepared and had averted his eyes, but Darkspine caught it full on, his retinas almost burning out from the intense light burning into them. He looked away just in time, colours popping and his vision shifting in and out of focus, multiplying and dividing at random.

His eyes had almost been burnt out, but he was a creature of fire, as Darkspine. The damage done healed almost immediately, a few seconds marking the time between the flash going off and his vision returning. Ken had used the time to spring across the room towards his spear, but now, with most of the equipment in the room not much more than molten slag, the dark hedgehog followed his progress, and acted against it. Ken's hands were moments away from closing around the shaft of his staff before it disappeared in front of him.

It reappeared in Darkspine's hands with a bellow, the chaos control expending excess energy as sound.  
The chaos adept looked down at the weapon, turning it over and over in his hands, looking at every inch of the polished surface as if almost in reverence, or anticipation. Ken could do naught but watch – while he had only been the hedgehog, he had not been worried about it, but now he had his own weapon, and he knew what the staff of lightning could do.

Then the weapon caught fire, from tip to engraved pommel. At first the flames merely licked along the surface, leaving creosote and ash marks along the engraving, and then the metal began to change colour. The shaft faded to red from its shining gold, then to yellow, then blue, passing through all the colours until it went white with heat, and it still kept on heating up.

It melted before his eyes. The process took some time admittedly, but even the Megatal surface could not withstand the power Sonic fuelled into it, and the metal started coming apart, molten globules running from the shaft and dripping onto the floor, pooling around Darkspine's feet, a tiny, glowing yellow crystal falling into the hot sludge with a faint splash.  
Watching the last of the weapon run through his hands for a moment, the dark hedgehog returned his gaze to Ken.  
**"Now, your turn."**

The monkey's eyes widened, as Darkspine raced forward, and curled his clawed fingers around his throat, lifting him off the ground. Still not beaten, Ken swung a hammer blow at the hedgehog, but his free arm shot out and gripped it, then bent it back. The monkey screamed, his arm snapping with a sickening crunch, but Darkspine kept pushing until the jagged, fractured edge of the blood-stained bone pierced the skin.

**"Compound fracture. Hurts like hell, doesn't it?"** He didn't get a response - Ken was still recovering from the attack. Darkspine snarled, and reached down, tearing off a large portion of Ken's tail. Again, the monkey screamed. **That got your attention. Now, you're probably going to go into shock soon. A common symptom of this is feeling cold. However, since I'm feeling generous, I'll make sure you stay warm."**

The monkey's body was engulfed in blazing flames, heating his armour up so fast that it melted almost instantly. His fur lit on fire, as his flesh was seared from his bones. The scream he would have let out died - the fire was consuming all the oxygen he could have breathed, and promptly leapt down his throat. The air within his body ignited, and his lungs exploded violently. His blood evaporated, and his feeble brain turned to pinkish-grey mush inside his skull.

The flames extinguished themselves when there was nothing left but a charred skeleton, which Darkspine dropped to the ground. Most of the bones crumbled, but no marrow flowed out. That too had evaporated.

Darkspine turned away, and stumbled slightly. He was running out of power, but he could still make it to Sally. He'd have to walk to conserve his energy, but he might be able to help. That was the only thing that mattered now. Groaning, he headed out of the door, keeping himself as slow as possible.

* * *

He was waiting for her. Despite everything, he was still a king, and he still believed in courtesy. He was waiting for her in the throne room, sitting in the chair the room was named for, a family heirloom rested across his knees.

The first signs of her arrival were the sounds of battle outside the door, thuds, and the ring of metal on metal. The aged Mobian sighed slowly in dismay; Sally had been trained just as completely as he had. There would be no way that even the royal guard stationed outside would be able to best her; it was why he had called away the two who normally stood beside his throne.  
Yes, he knew it was Sally before the door opened, for who else would raise a sword against him? It was no surprise, for he had known that she would break free, either alone or with the help of that bastard hedgehog.

Then the doors flew open, and the princess of the Acorn kingdom came face to face with the man she really wanted to kill.  
"Now, look what you've done to that dress. It was handmade, you know." Max's face remaining impassive as he noticed that the lower section of the dress was in tatters. He joked about it, but knew why she had done it; prior to its…modifications…the dress would have impeded her movement, but not in its current state.  
The dress was the most damaged part about her. Her accelerated rate of healing had sealed the minor cuts and gashes she had suffered on the way, and she had not tired from the fighting. The dress itself bore several other minor slashes from the dozens of guards she had battled, and bloodstains, none of which were her own, marred the surface, but Max did not recognise the sword she carried.

"Perhaps you might want to think about how I'll react to being dressed up like a doll for the pleasure of some creep I've never even met, who has a habit of torturing people before you put me in anything expensive."  
"Now now, Sally. That's no way to speak about him. I'm sure that once this is over, you will find him quite charming."  
"Is that before or after you have your replacement for Nicole turn my mind into ultra-compliant soup?" She spoke her words with such venom that Max almost seemed to smile at. If there was one thing she had got from him, it was how to sound threatening.

"My dear daughter, all that we are going to do is make sure you comply with our story, and instil a hatred of those disgusting mutants into your brain. Then my plan will be quite simple. I will fake my death at your hands, you will go back to your former friends, and kill them for me."  
"You're a disgusting monster, and you aren't fit to be my father, _Max_" Sally spat, brandishing her weapon. Max stood up, lazily as if bored already, and levelled his weapon at her.  
"I may be old, but I did not teach you all of my tricks, Sally."  
All that had to be said had been so. It was no longer a time for talking.


	15. Chapter 15

The palace in Mobotropolis was a mess, a maze of corpses and fires, sparking electronics and darkened corridors. With Anima's death, all light was extinguished, save that provided by the burning corpses themselves, those few figures to have survived the carnage now gripped by fear, both of the being who had committed the atrocity, and the new demon that stalked the halls. None of the survivors had managed to get a good look and survive, so most fled from it, and so those remaining few cowered in hovels and hiding holes that meant certain death were they to be discovered.  
Despite the grim, macabre gloom seeping into every corner, only one room rang with the sound of combat, two blades striking sparks from each other in the darkness, lit by auras and oil lamps so old they were relative antiques.

Sally had no qualms about killing her father – it was the sole reason she was there. There in the darkness, clad in a torn, blood-stained dress and wielding a sword given to her by one of the few people who gave a damn about her, a sword forged from Megatal and thus as tough as any diamond. Even so, Maximillian Acorn, one foremost swordsman in the entire kingdom, clad in battle armour and wielding the sword of Acorns, he was still a formidable opponent, one that could easily win with Sally in the state she was.

Despite this, both were evenly matched - though Sally's movements were still slightly restricted by her clothing, her father's age was clearly hindering him. She rushed forward, swinging her blade at his neck. He ducked under it, and lunged, aiming a stab at her stomach. She sidestepped, recoiling with shock.

"I thought you were trying to force me to marry that ape, not kill me!"  
"I can have you rebuilt, minus that defiant streak, of course."  
"Like you did with Nicole?"  
"Please, nothing so roughshod."  
Sally snarled, and pressed her attack again. Striking a series of ringing blows off the family blade, seeking to force through his guard by dint of strength and blows struck. The grizzled veteran parried each blow methodically, countering with soft parries that absorbed the blows when directed one way and sprung it back at Sally when directed another way. Her arm was slowly being numbed by the impacts when she abandoned the plan, backing away a few steps into the gloom.

"Believe it or not, dear daughter, I don't want to kill you." He squinted into the darkness, his night vision somewhat reduced by age.  
"Then why are you trying? Why did you kill my mother?"  
"The same reason that we lock blades now." He smiled again, that same tired, condescending smile. "She was too rebellious, and you have inherited that trait. She was smart and beautiful, much like yourself, but she never did as she was told. She had to be removed for the sake of the kingdom."  
_So he __**had**__ killed her._ He had always maintained that Alicia Acorn had died in a plane crash, an unfortunate accident while she was taking herself, Sally, and Elias, her brother, on holiday abroad, and that Sally had been the only survivor.  
Another lie.

"You bastard!" Sally growled, running forward. The swords locked, leaving them pushing against each other.  
"Oh, you must understand, I didn't want to do that. But she was taking you away from here, and I needed an heir. She had already corrupted your brother, beyond him being any use to me, so you would have to do. After all, you were only two years old, much too early to even understand your mother's teachings. A pity that the lynx girl and her mother had to go and do what Alicia would have done anyway."

Sally broke the lock, and jumped back to avoid another swing from her father. seizing her chance, she leapt forward, and slashed downwards, cutting clean through Max's left forearm. He growled with pain, as Sally backed away again, and glared at her.  
"You are going to pay dearly for that." He hissed, one hand clamping over his arm to staunch the blood.  
_He's pissed off now. Good, he'll be less focused, and it'll be easier._

He looked down at the damage, the shattered nerve endings screaming at him to stop, and slowly, the blood supply to his forearm was cut off, the flow of blood trickling down to nothing, and he looked back to his daughter. "Nanites. A more recent addition to my armoury."  
Max lunged at her, though the attack was much clumsier now - the Sword of Acorns was clearly intended to be a two-handed weapon, and since he was now lacking in that department, he was going to struggle all the more. Still, he was strong, and knew his way with a blade.

He spun, dragging the weapon round through the air towards Sally, a low swing designed to slice her legs from under her. She swept the tip of her own weapon down, catching Max as he completed the swing. It tore the blade from under her, the momentum boosted by her deflection and he stumbled forward, running into her. Apparently he was still feeling the pain keenly enough for it to be a problem.

They tumbled to the floor and rolled apart, blades flailing against each other as they both sought to return to their feet. Sally was first up, her lithe frame, athletic tendencies and pair of arms meant she recovered faster than her older, more tired and bereft-of-an-arm father. Her sword was already swinging when he raised his own, hastily parrying the attack, the block so weakly formed that he shuddered against it.

Sally withdrew slightly, then lunged, trying to stab him in the stomach. He sidestepped, and slashed at her side, forcing her to call off her attack and guard herself again. The blades crashed together, and Sally found that, despite her advantage in the physical sense, the greater weight of the Sword of Acorns was still a problem. The blow made her stumble slightly, his greater physical strength and heavier blade knocking her light body off balance.

In an instant, he was aiming another cut at her legs, but she regained her footing, and jumped over it, landing slightly to the side of Max. She slashed at his back, putting as much strength as she could into her attack. He turned, and blocked the strike, but, like Sally was before, he was knocked off balance. Unlike her, however, he was sent to the ground.

But he was never one to give up. He had been king for so many years, and it wasn't his way to lie down and die when it suited someone. As Sally approached, slowly, for despite her brave words she still had some subconscious reservations about killing her father. This was the weakness he could prey on – he would make sure his reign survived, by hook or by crook. Every warrior, every swordsman, knows a few dirty tricks.

He struck out with his foot, catching her quite unexpectedly on the ankle. The girl cried out and stumbled, her balance gone, hands flying out instinctively to arrest her fall. With what remained of his strength Max dragged the Sword of Acorns into the air, bringing it down through almost sheer momentum, and it collided with the flat of Sally's own weapon, and the sword left her grasp.

The pain that ran through her arm as it was jerked from her grip finally let her legs give out, and she tripped to her knees only as Maximillian regained his footing and kicked her sword away, the tip of his own great-sword inches from her face.  
"So it has come to this." He muttered to himself as much as her. "Forced to condemn my own daughter to the executioner's block, my own hand no less, but none shall know of your betrayal, fear not. This duel, brilliant as it was, will go unremembered and Sally Acorn will take her place on the throne, continuing her father's legacy."  
"Fuck you." She spat, still defying him as he raised the ancient heirloom to deliver final justice. The blade flashed down…and froze, a shining hand fastened around the blade edge itself.

"Anima! Stand aside!" the king roared, angered by his proximity to victory being drawn ever further away.  
"Not this time, Maximillian. You should have thought better before you enslaved me, used me to enrapture your daughter, and then replaced me." Nicole spun her avatar, remembering what it was like to feel the palace as her skin, and jerked the Sword of Acorns from Max's grasp. The old king was thrown by the act, both mentally and physically, his grip slackening and trying to turn it into a run.

Nicole completed the turn by handing the Sword of Acorns to Sally, a weapon fitting for her that she could continue the fight as Max, seeing the development, scooped up the fallen Megatal blade. He examined it in the half-light as Nicole and Sally exchanged greetings and thanks, and the king found the blade far more to his liking. It was lighter and shorter, far easier to wield single-handed, and though she now had the weight of the Acorns behind her, Sally was once again facing a foe who was fully equipped.

Sally stepped forward once more, still moving at a slower pace. She brandished her weapon, circling Max, as he shifted his position to follow her, never presenting any weak spots. Despite this, when Max spoke again, his words were directed at Nicole.

"If you have control of the palace, why am I still alive?"  
"Because I need to time to fully regain control of it. Anima made a few changes too. I have to get rid of those first."  
"Not to mention that defeating you is my task." Sally added. "But... Nicole? What happened to your body?"  
"I'll explain later. Stay focused."

Sally nodded, and headed towards her father again. The swords clashed in a clumsy manner, neither combatant experienced with the weapon they held. Max broke the lock, and slashed at Sally, but she parried it without too much trouble. He took another swing, and she blocked that too. Sonic's sword didn't have the weight, nor could Max put the strength behind it needed to get passed Sally's defence.

He swung again, and this time the blades locked, neither moving an inch. He struck out with his leg, tripping Sally and knocking her down again, and raised his sword over his head. Before either Max or Nicole could move further, however, Sally vanished a blur of brown, red, and blue. She skidded to a halt on the other side of the chamber, and look down at her feet.

"Forgot I could do that..." She muttered, smiling, as she turned back to her father, her eyes glowing purple. "Super-speed. Remember that little experiment? You can't have forgotten; Fiona ripped your side open. I'm a chaos adept, well done." Then she remembered what else she could do with it. While Miles had balanced the energy within the two Mobians, Sally's mind-set had remained so that she preferred support and defensive power over the more barbaric slash & burn style chaos powers.

She channelled her power into her muscle, her bones, her skin, a shimmering aura of light rising from the surface and playing about her. For an adept such as Miles or Sonic, the effect would have been unremarkable, but as a novice adept, Sally did not know how to quell the aesthetic nature of her powers just yet.  
As the aura diminished once again, fading into the darkness, it seemed as if it had granted no effect at all, but Sally knew different. She moved forward, a slightly lurch brought on by the shift in her concentration to take into account holding her chaos energy in check, and Max picked up on it, hanging back slightly and trailing his sword as if forgotten.

Sally lunged forward suddenly, her speed propelling her a mite faster than he had predicted, but nonetheless he had prepared for the move. She could not move extremely fast or risk losing focus, and he still raised his guard in time to stop the downward stroke from the Sword of Acorns. He did not, however, have time to register the effect as the sword slipped straight through the Megatal, and ripped a vertical gouge through Max's chestplate. He registered the pain flaring as the skin was burned by the edge of the blade and drove himself backward in agony.

"Vibrating something so fast that you pass through the molecules." Nicole noted with a hint of surprise. "You got that from Sonic?"  
"Yes. It's a bit tricky, but it works."  
"I'm impressed that you managed to transfer it to the sword."  
"If it can be done with clothing, why not weapons?"  
"Good point."

Max steadied himself, and swung at Sally once more. She countered perfectly, using her powers to augment her strength, and, thinking back to her father's previous attacks, she snap-kicked him in the stomach. He rolled out of her immediate reach, and forced himself up, but his movements were slowed dramatically by his injuries. His nanites had sealed up the wound, but that didn't stop the pain from affecting him.

Sally headed over to him again, even her more careful movements sped up by her powers. Max swung at her, and again, she countered flawlessly, pushing his blade down, and then pulling hers back up and slashing across his torso, just below the ribcage. Once again it ripped through the armoured plate, burnished steel no match for the ancient weapon. An angry red line appeared on Max's chest as the nanites raced to repair the damage, but without painkillers, every strike further weakened the proud ruler.

He kept fighting, his lighter blade affording him greater movement to compensate for injuries. He twisted it in the air, a feint that he had not taught Sally, scoring a gash across her stomach, receiving for his troubles the Sword of Acorns embedded into his foot. He bellowed as the agony overwhelmed him, the multiple wounds finally getting through to him and the Megatal sword slipped slowly from his fingers as he sunk to his knees, unable to gather the strength to pull the sword from his foot.

Sally stumbled in her own loss of control, hands going to the wound as blood seeped from it, golden light playing across its edges. The wound began to heal almost immediately, chaos energy running through the damaged molecules, forcing them to heal and then multiply far faster than they would normally, until once again smooth skin stretched over the wound, pink as if several days healed, though no fur grew.  
"Extreme enhancement on the rate of healing." Nicole explained for the king, still struggling to fight back the pain from overcoming him. "Chaos energy regenerates the flesh three times faster than normal, and Sally's set of powers means she heals even faster than that."

"Now, I think I owe you something." Wrapping one hand around the golden-engraved hilt of the Sword of Acorns, Sally tore it from her father's foot, the wound leaking deep crimson droplets onto the floor. "My mother and my brother died because of you. Make sure you say sorry to them." She drew back the weapon, her eyes meeting his.  
"Go ahead." He gave her one last withered look, the fight slowly draining from his eyes as the blood left him, and Sally drove the blade home.  
It punched through the centre of his chest, ripping through his armour and ribcage, puncturing the heart and coming out the other side. He seemed to deflate slightly against the edge, but he was not yet done.  
"I never found them…" he choked. "I didn't recover their bodies…" another wad of blood came up. "They're alive for all I know." and that was the last thing he said. He had been physically dead as of a few seconds ago, when his heart had been split by his own sword. Only now did his mind catch up, as his eyes blanked over, taking on a serene, grey contrast, and his face went slack, along with his arms.

_Disgusting._ The queen tore the blade from his body the way it had gone in, staring down at him, trying to fathom not his words, but why he had said them. What had prompted him to tell her that? Why did he give a shit about what she thought or wanted?

Nicole seemed to sense her friend's thoughts, and approached her carefully.

"Did you know about that? There being no bodies?"  
"No, Sally. The records say they are dead. He probably wanted to mess with you. It's something people that are going to be executed have been known to do right before they die, but deliberately get it cut short to get on the nerves of their executioner."  
"Still, was he lying?"  
"His readable signals, such as heart rate, were all out of whack because he was dying. I cannot tell, but I have no reason to doubt that he was telling the truth."  
"So...they might be alive?"  
"It's possible."

At that moment, the door opened, and Sonic stepped in, still in his Darkspine form. He saw the dead body of the former king, and a wide grin broke out on his face, as, with a violent burst of fire, he reverted to normal. Sally and Nicole headed over to support him, noticing his fatigue, and he wrapped his arms around Sally, enveloping her in a tight hug.

"You did it, Sal. You got 'im." He panted. Sally smiled back, though she was slightly less overjoyed.  
"Yes... I did."  
"I got a call from Tails on the way up here. They succeeded too. And it's pretty plain to see that Anima's not with us anymore."

Nicole nodded, smiling.

"Yes, she's gone. She almost turned me into a slave program, but she failed."  
"What about your body?" Sally cut in.  
"It's gone." Nicole shook her head. "It wasn't meant to handle hacking, or holding two programs in it at the same time. My organic brain burnt up fighting Anima."  
"What about Emerl?" Sonic asked.  
"He's okay. Unconscious, but he'll be waking soon. I have another me down there, monitoring him."  
"Phew. Er, say, Nicole, you mind if I talk to Sal alone?"  
"Not at all, but I might I suggest you go to the next room? You don't really want to have a 'private talk' with a dead body in the room."  
"Er, good point."

Sonic led Sally away, into the small antechamber adjoining the throne room. The floor here was not free from the fighting, but it had been limited to bloody footprints Sally had tracked through on her way in.  
"What is it?" she asked, concerned. This was already out of his normal behaviour.  
"Ok, first, I don't normally say stuff like this, so if I fuck it up, just…bear with me, alright? I'll get it right after a few laps."  
"I still don't know what you're going to say."  
"Well, here I go." He dove straight into it. "Probably not the best time to say this, after all that's happened…but…well…when I was fighting Ken, it was so he wouldn't go after you. When I finished fighting him, I held onto my form, I moved as slow as I've ever moved before to keep it, so that if I appeared and found you were having trouble I could get in the way. You're important. I mean, everyone is…but you're the only person I've ever met who hasn't cared about who I am, who's stayed in my life anyway. I gotta say, Sal, I love you for that."

A long moment passed before Sally responded, and then she just kissed him, simply, quietly, a silent admission of her own feelings that mirrored his own.  
"You're a strange one." She muttered when they broke apart. "you have a funny way of meeting people, saving princess in alleyways."  
"That's how I roll, I guess." He sighed.  
"But we've still got one last problem."  
"What's that?" he frowned.  
"With dad now dead, I'm queen, and I really don't want to be."

* * *

As it was, the immediate trouble was over. The king was now dead and Sally his successor, as being the only one as definitely alive – they had decided not to tell anyone about the possibility of Alicia or Elias being alive just yet – but there were still problems to address. Under the new law, hunting adepts was now prohibited, as they were citizens like any other. With Nicole's help, soldiers and policemen loyal to Sally and the new throne hunted down anyone continuing these activities, and had them tried in a new court. The councillor Hamlin was found guilty of crimes against the throne, and was sentenced to life in prison. Four other council members met the same fate, the decision to condemn them almost unanimous each time.

The streets were harder to purge – years of indoctrination had left the population with one of two mind-sets; either they liked adepts, or they didn't, and most were firmly set in one of those two beliefs. As soon as word began to spread of Sally's rule, reports started coming in of specific groups, protest marches, some violent, some not, gripping the city. Many of the offenders were nobles or those with some standing who had benefited from Maximillian's rule, and the official retaliation was spearheaded by Geoffrey St. John, newly-appointed protector to the queen and her regent.

Like the rest of the populace, the military and police departments were also fragmented and riddled with confusion, so the actual manpower had been severely reduced.  
The streets could not have been held without the most unorthodox of allies. Every city, including Mobotropolis, had always had crime. Gangs of all sorts, drug dealers and mobsters. All of them rose up in defence of the new queen and country. They had seen adepts as the downtrodden, like themselves, and seeing what the chaos adepts had achieved through the revolution, now sought to improve their own standing, and aided the police and military in holding back the tide of protesters, however misguided their reasons were.

True, that small band, Sonic, Sally, Miles, Fiona, Emerl and Nicole had achieved all they wanted, the elimination of two threats to the empire, the legalisation of being an adept and the termination of a rogue AI and installation of a new one, the sudden shift in political stance had thrown the entire kingdom into turmoil. Sally battled through it all, in courtrooms and on the streets, proving herself many times over in the eyes of her subjects. She did not fight alone, either – rumours began to spread of the supersonic hedgehog by her side, the two kitsune and the unblinking robot, and how the city seemed to shift and change to their advantage. It took the team and their allies almost eight months to resolve the situation into something more stable, and that was when Sally announced her intentions.

* * *

"Thanks for all being here – thanks for all being there the entire time. I couldn't have lasted alone." Sally was on the verge of tears, but none objected. Only those present were ones to whom such a delicate matter could be entrusted. There were the original five who had been with her when the fight had started and ended, but there were others, all of whom needed to hear what was to be said. Rosemary Prower was present, though Amadeus, Miles' father, was not. He was conducting the last efforts on the streets in Geoffrey's absence, for the skunk, along with Hershey, were present in this enclave. The council chairman was there, leaning on his cane and soaking up information.  
"That's what your father did." Miles consoled her. "Look where that got him. We're here to help you through this." In recent months, Miles had relaxed considerably. His usual snappy demeanour had diminished significantly, to be replaced by one still guarded, but more amiable and pleasant. He would never truly be as carefree as the others – it was in his nature, this somewhat dark void, but he was a calm, cool person instead of the paranoid, chilling man he had been before.  
"Speaking of which, why have you assembled us?" Geoffrey asked. "While I have complete faith in Amadeus, I do not like to be away from my work for long."

"I know, I know, but please, Geoff. It's important that you are here – for you see, very soon your service, protecting me, will no longer be required. I'm resigning."  
"I don't think it works that way." Fiona added, her head nestled between Miles' head and shoulder.  
"Well, I don't think there's anyone who gets a say in it. I don't want to be queen, frankly monarchy is a system that doesn't work precisely because it involves placing all the power with one person. It's not something I want to have to bear the burden of. I've thought long and hard when I have been able, and I want to turn the Acorn Kingdom into the Acorn Empire. Ladies and gentlemen, friends or otherwise…" she glanced quickly at Sonic, "I intend to make us a republic."  
The result was quiet shock, as she had expected, but she was not done. "We already have a council, do we not? Max only created it as a front to look as if he followed the will of the people, but it's an effective decision-making body. The system works. People are elected, not born into it, and the decision is made on the collective thoughts of all those present. It's far more effective than any monarchy I can ever run. Rosemary, I want you to lead this, alongside Harvey." She motioned to the owl. "Harvey, I know you will judge fairly, as you have always done, and Rosemary, I trust you to make the right choices."

They were all afraid to speak, something that worried Sally. "Did I say something wrong?"  
Miles spoke up again. "I think many of us understand and support the idea, but don't want to say anything that might offend. You put us in a difficult position. But if I'm honest…yes, I do support the idea, a democracy is better than a monarchy, but it isn't the reason I've been waiting for someone to speak. I've just been watching Sonic fidget. Anyone notice that he hasn't been able to sit still at all? It's not him being restless. I'll give anyone who can guess why five rings."  
Sonic shot a glare at his friend. "Dude! Do you have to go and spoil the thunder like that? I was trying to be discrete."  
"Sonic, you're crap at being demure, remember? Come one, let's get this over with. I think he has something to say." Miles motioned for Sonic to stand, a smile slowly spreading across his features with what he knew.

The hedgehog reservedly pushed himself from his seat, stepping forward from behind Sally and dropping to one knee. He was shaking. For the first time Miles could remember, Sonic was scared. Scared of something.  
One hand, trembling so fast it appeared still took Sally's hand, and he gulped down his fear. "I was going to save this for later, when we didn't have an audience, but _someone_ decided to ruin it. Sally?"  
By this time, the squirrel-queen had some inkling of what was going on, but she was still slightly shaky about it. She knew that she should know, but for some reason it wouldn't click. "Y-yea?"  
"I didn't think I'd ever amount to anything, considering all that I did, running away from anything, but now here I am, asking a queen…Sally Acorn, will you marry me?"  
D-do you even have to ask?" Sally almost broke down there and then, the combined power of the reform and all of a sudden a proposal almost overwhelmed her with emotion. Luckily Sonic was there to catch her as she near-fainted.  
As small as the group assembled was, it was the best damn cheer Sonic had ever heard.  
"Now Tails, you have to do me a favour!" the hedgehog cheered.

"What's that?"  
"You've gotta make that proposal to Fiona." Sonic smirked, believed he had caught his friend in his own trap, but Miles and Fiona simply smiled at each other.  
"He beat you to the mark, Sonic." Fiona smirked at him. "He asked me yesterday. I said yes, on one condition. He has to lighten up a bit. Stop being such a pessimist."  
"I like the sound of that. Go for it." Sonic nodded to the vixen.  
"It's time for me to lighten up." Miles admitted. "We've been through hell, but that's behind us now. I'm not running from a devil anymore."

These guys had faced a lot. They had been though a life of misery and pain, the law and military, they had fought soldiers, guards, two kings and even a computer, they had fought against politics and protests, and they had survived two marriage proposals in the space of forty-eight hours. The road ahead was bound to be tough, but after all they had been through, they could damn-well cope.

* * *

**Now may not be the best time to bring this up, but this was a collab with my friend and fellow writer, Therix. It was done on DeviantART where we employed a system wherein I posted the even numbered parts, and he posted the odd ones. Strangely, since Chapter 1 was listed as a prologue there, it was actually 0-14, and not 1-15 chapters there. However, to spare you having to flick back and forth between pages, I uploaded all of them here, owing to the fact that I created the concept for this series, and also posted the most chapters.**

**The reason I am writing this all down is simple: I;m going to post our final thoughts on this series from both of us. Here is Therix's:**

_**Now honestly, I had no idea what the heck I would be seeing when this kicked off. I have always been a critic when it comes to writing, and I was afraid at points that it would get the better of me. Thank god I kept it in check; I owe Vorahk some leniency. It's not to say we didn't come to blows at points – there were scuffles, but there was comedy in equal measure, and I can honestly say it's a pleasure knowing this odd, creative, and slightly-unhinged guy. This doesn't mark the end for Sonic fanfiction for either of us – I continue to write Violet Era, and Vorahk has all manner of stuff going on that I've heard of or haven't. It's the end of Splintered Shadows, but this world may be revisited in time, alone or as a duo once more. I don't know what he's going to say about this, but I enjoyed it.**_

**And now it's my turn. Well, it's over, and I have to say that right, now I'm grinning so much I might have been exposed to Smilex. There was some stuff that surprised me in writing this, or rather, in reading Therix's additions. I think the biggest surprise is how well I think our segments have meshed. Answer me this: Can you tell who did what bit without being told yourself?**

This is the first time I've written douchebag Tails, but naturally he's a bit of a softy on the inside.

And yes, Alicia and Elias aren't dead. So if we do come back to SS (Either with me soloing or Therix joining because he's bored), they'll probably show up there. Likely with Megan and Alexis in tow. We've got a lot still to show in the SS-verse, like what Robotnik is actually up to, and how Super forms that aren't Darkspine work, so I might end up doing some supplementary side-stories occasionally. It's not on my list of priorities, though.

**I hope you all stick around to view my next uploads, which will be solo efforts. Vorahk295, signing off.**


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